Dust off those old photographs and unbox those heirlooms. Mascoutah Public Library is hosting a free Digitization Day event to help area residents preserve history for generations to come.

Scheduled for March 14th from 10:00am to 6:00pm, Digitization Day is a unique opportunity for community members to play an active role in preserving local history.

For one day only, a cataloger from the Mobile Memory Lab, a service of Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS), will carefully scan or photograph 2D and 3D family heirlooms and community artifacts in high resolution, work with owners to record important details about the items, and catalog them for inclusion in the Illinois Digital Archive. Owners get access to the digital images while ensuring their family’s or business’ stories are shared with future generations.

To schedule an appointment, please complete this registration form.

If you schedule an appointment please be prepared for the following.

• Cancel the appointment in advance if they are unable to attend.
• Understand that digitized items will be added to the Illinois Digital Archives and available for public viewing.
• Be willing to sign a property owner copyright release form.
• Come prepared with information about their items (e.g., who is pictured, who created the item, or who owned it).
• Prioritize which items they would like digitized first, as time is limited during each appointment.

Please call the library at 618-566-2562, or email us at library@mascoutah.lib.il.us for more information.