On June 11 members of the Icelandic River Community Foundation (IRCF) presented Rachel Plett, head librarian of the Arborg branch of the Evergreen Regional Library with a $3,000 cheque. The funds will go towards the purchase of a laptop computer to facilitate the cataloguing and preservation of the branches historical collection including many in the original Icelandic.
The Arborg Library houses a collection of old books, some of which are very rare. These books have long been in storage with limited access to the general public. With this grant, the library will be able to provide access of this valuable collection to the public. IRCF chair Larry Speiss said this is one of the many projects to which the Icelandic River Community Foundation was proud to be able to contribute to this past year.
Rachel Plett shared that the collection of historical books includes a large Icelandic collection both in English and Icelandic. It is an amalgamation of several smaller collections including the first lending libraries located in this area and donations of smaller personal libraries.
The historical archives contain many Icelandic books, plays, poetry, newspapers, and music. Additionally, Arborg houses an assortment of books in a variety of languages, including a donation of books from the North Star Creamery that was originally located in Arborg.
“The first steps are to preserve the collection and to make the collection available to the public once again,” said Plett. “To do this, we are excited to begin cataloguing the titles. Cataloguing will provide an electronic record of all titles available to view by the public. This record will be available worldwide through the online library catalogue for the Arborg Library.”
Plett said they hope to digitize some of the collections at a later date, specifically the rare books and handwritten minutes of various local service groups in our collection, as allowed by copyright laws.
The donation of the laptop will allow the library staff to catalogue these titles. The laptop is portable which, allows the staff to move around with it. It can be used upstairs, rather than bringing all of the artifacts down to the main floor.
Local volunteers are set to embark on this labour of love, ensuring that these 4,000 titles become a valuable community asset for generations ahead.
“With approximately 4,000 titles, this will take some time, but we are certain this will be a valuable addition to our community and a wonderful historical resource for years to come,” said Plett.
