This initiative emerged out of the expressed needs of local residents and researchers as well as other individuals from across the country for greater accessibility to the library’s special collections. Until now, these materials, physically stored at the Main Library, were only accessible by request and could only be viewed in-person, which greatly limited accessibility. Additionally, this initiative offered a way to preserve the content of materials that are in danger of succumbing to environmental degradation.

The space to house the project as well as the appropriate equipment and software to be used had to be respectively built out and procured. Staff was then hired and trained. A work plan and guidelines were developed in keeping those used by the State Library of Florida and the Digital Public Library of America. The initial focus of the program was fixed on increasing the digital production and implementing collaborative projects.

An LSTA-funded program, it has successfully fulfilled the deliverables, exceeding the requirements. Over 2,500 items from nine different collections have been cataloged, scanned and made available online. This growth factor is significant since these collections vary widely in format and include negatives, glass plates, photographs, letters, postcards, rare books, ephemera, works of art, artifacts, etc. The recently launched online portal is already resulting in requests for personal and editorial purposes.