Date Posted: Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Over the next few weeks in celebration of Archives  month we will be hosting guest bloggers. They will share their point of view and stories from the archives.  Today’s blog is from Kathy Graybeal, Sussex County Librarian.

Library staffers hear the phrase all the time. “I just didn’t know that libraries did that!” Or “I never thought that libraries would do this sort of thing!” But the tables were turned on us at the 21st Annual Library Staff Development Day on October 20th. Participants in the “Gallop into History with the Delaware Public Archives” presentation were absolutely positive that they understood the organization inside and out. In reality, they had no clue. State Archivist, Steve Marz, Outreach Director, Tom Summers and Research Room Supervisor, Dawn Mitchell took library staff on a resource ride that was the talk of the conference. While we easily recognize the Archives role in documenting dramatic historical events, housing rare objects and discovering our ancestry, we often miss the major part they can play in questions of estate settlements, land disputes, legal precedence or simply noting the persons present in an old photograph. Our experience at Library Staff Development Day reminds us once more that “The American record has enduring value and America’s archives – in all their diversity of form and function – serve as its memory.” Plan a tour of our Delaware Public Archives today. You may well find that you just didn’t know!

Tom Summers, Steve Marz, and Dawn Mitchell at the Sussex County Librarian Staff Development Day
Tom Summers, Steve Marz, and Dawn Mitchell at the Sussex County Librarian Staff Development Day

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