What is the Local History Department?
The Eagle Valley Library District and the Eagle County Historical Society have a rich historical collection located at the Eagle Public Library. We are dedicated to sharing resources and information about Eagle County and the surrounding areas. For further information, to make a donation, or to make an appointment, please call: 970-328-8800 or email history@evld.org.
Collection Development: What We Collect & Why
As part of the Collection Development criteria for the Local History Department of Eagle Valley Library District, we accept items that:
- Can be integrated into existing collections and maintained to the best of the Local History Department’s ability based on available space, time, and cost
- Do not pose an immediate threat to other items currently in EVLD holdings (i.e. mold, pest or insect activity, etc.)
- Fill a gap in the collection or contextually add meaning to other items currently in EVLD holdings
- Can be adequately documented to be of use for researchers, patrons, and staff
These items include, but are not limited to:
- Family photographs and negatives
- Family heirlooms: awards, clothing, scrapbooks
- Artifacts: eyeglasses, saddles, writing pouches
- Eagle County records: taxes, registers
- Those that are not included or have met/exceeded Eagle County retention schedules
- Rare books, both mass publication and specialized
- Personal, handwritten stories from Eagle County natives and pioneers
- Annual government releases and reports: Forest Service, master plans, proposals
- Newspapers and newspaper clippings
- Maps, current and historical
- Posters
- Oral histories and transcriptions
- Fiction, non-fiction, and new release books for general circulation
- Dissertations and collections of scholarly research with a focus on Eagle County, western Colorado, and/or the western slope
Once received, these items are:
- Subject to complete archival processing (any combination of preservation, inventory, rehoming, creation of collection guide, indexing)
- Scanned (when available/necessary) for upload and web viewing
- Cataloged for OPAC and patron searching
- Stored at the Eagle Public Library
Through processing and cataloging, the Local History Department:
- Develops downloadable documents available on the Local History website
- Participates in social media using collected photographs, artifacts, and stories
- Provides photographs for publications, newspapers, researchers, authors, etc.
- Curates a circulating collection of works by local authors, scholarly research, and historical writings
- Preserves items for long-term storage and safe use for future generations
Interested in making a donation or seeing the collection? Please make an appointment by calling: 970-328-8800, or emailing history@evld.org.