For historians, DIG Memphis and the Memphis and Shelby County Room are gems. Established in 1971, they contain a wealth of primary sources on the history of our city and county. It is an ongoing project of the library and new items are added regularly. The Library welcomes submissions of all types of information from the minutia of “when was my home built?” to “what was Memphis like during World War II?” to repositories such as “pictures of the Harmony Circle of the International Order of the Kings Daughters and Sons”. The Library welcomes all new information.

The Library’s mission is to “satisfy the customer’s need to know” and DIG Memphis and the Memphis and Shelby County Room are excellent sources of local facts. This library destination site brings customers and visitors to the Library, and while they are there, they will observe several other services, programs, and genres of information, all free and open to the public. It is an opportunity for the Library to increase cardholders, visits, program attendance, and stakeholders. With improved statistics, it increases the visibility of management’s consideration for increased support.

The Memphis and Shelby County Room welcomes approximately 2,100 visitors each year. The DIG Memphis website garners approximately 1.2 million hits annually. The outcomes are extremely positive, and the impact of this exposure speaks well to the Library’s ability to provide information in formats that are easily accessible to the public.