Grant helps library transfer newspapers
A grant from the Maine Library Commission helped to buy a microfilm reader.
RANGELEY – More than a century of colorful Rangeley history can now be found with the simple spin of a knob.
As the knob turns, so do the pages of Rangeley’s newspapers of yesteryear and today including the Rangeley Lakes (1895-1897), the Rangeley Record (1934-1962) and the Rangeley Highlander (1957-present) on the screen of a microfilm reader.
The words on the pages take the microfilm operator back in time to a bygone era.
Rangeley will get television with good reception. Scroll forward. Private Stowell Eustis killed in Korea. Click ahead. A large new furnished camp on Hunter Cove that includes 200-feet of waterfront and one boat is for sale for the mere asking price of $6,500.
The microfilm reader machine that takes people back in time came to the Rangeley Public Library thanks to a generous New Century Community Library grant of $7,356.50 from the Maine Library Commission.
That was matched by some financial contributions and in-kind donations of 140 hours of time provided by library staff and volunteers to bring the total cost of the project to preserve the town’s history to $14,713.
Those involved say it was worth the sweat that went into getting the grant, which was written by former library director Anne Haynes, and then pouring over the thousands of pages that would be filmed – 23,460 pages to be exact.
Marcia White, a former library board member and vice-president, said from the basement where the yellowing newspapers were once stored in the small box where the 109 years of Rangeley is held on tiny reels, it was quite an impressive process to capture the goings-on of a community on film.
After the library received word of the grant approval last summer, staff and volunteers went through every newspaper they had in their collection or could get donated to make sure the pages were intact and jotted down notes of any problems.
Much of the inventory was donated by Judy Hunger, former owner of the Rangeley Highlander.
“It was so easy to get lost in your work,” said library Director Sue Downes-Borko, remembering that as she flipped through the pages, stories and advertisements would catch her eye.
Then, the papers were taken down to New England Micrographics in Massachusetts where the pages were cut at the fold, ironed and then scanned to be placed on microfilm.
Now, the microfilm reels and a reader/printer are available to the public whenever the library is open. A separate copy of the film is at the Rangeley Region Historical Society, where it will be used for private research.
The grant also helped buy a computer for the historical society for cataloging the holdings and research.
In her grant application, Haynes wrote, “Awarding of this grant will create a unique and important resource for our small community… It is an investment in the community for all its inhabitants and visitors, now and in the future.”
‘A lot simpler’
White is hopeful locals will come to utilize the microfilm reader to do research and genealogy on their families. Also microfilmed is Ski News, a supplement that used to be put out by the Rangeley Highlander that covered skiing happenings throughout the state.
White says there is something for everyone.
“This makes research a lot simpler,” she said citing that the papers are more organized and accessible. “What is the library? It is a source of information for people. That’s our business.”
The move to microfilm also helps to preserve the old papers, which will be stored in their archival boxes, safe from the oils of human fingers.
Downes-Borko said many will benefit from the expansive project. “The best is that this enhances what we already have,” she noted.
The Rangeley Public Library is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays , and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, call 864-5529.
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