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Library dips into yellow journalism as it preserves old papers
By JIM HARRINGTON
Article published on Thursday, March 23, 2006 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/032306_cit-04.jpg) |
| Old copies of the Safety Harbor Herald are stored in a 5-drawer map display case at the city library, which is preserving the old papers. |
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SAFETY HARBOR – History buffs might want to hit the city’s library now that it has obtained some old newspaper copies of a defunct paper.
Two years ago at the 2004 Mayors’ Breakfast fundraiser Oldsmar Mayor Jerry Beverland gave his contemporary to the south a gift of the Safety Harbor Herald. Safety Harbor Mayor Pam Corbino then asked library director Lana Bullian to look into ways the city could preserve the newspaper.
According to a press release by city spokeswoman Julie Yaeger, “the pages were yellowed with age, edges crumbling, and in a deteriorated condition, requiring research to identify preservation possibilities.”
Bullian wanted to let her patrons sift through the ads, the editorial copy and get a feel for what city life was like from 1925 through 1972, the dates of publication for the newspapers the library has.
“It’s interesting to see what was newsworthy now, versus then,” said Bullian, who wants the public to view the pages, which are kept in a 5-drawer map display case.
She didn’t want the broadsheet-sized papers, whose dates of publication are somewhat sporadic, to crumble apart. So Bullian asked an archivist from the University of South Florida to look at the papers and help her decide how best to preserve them.
After examining them, the archivist suggested the city invest in a process in which each page is deacidified to help preserve it. The pages would then be placed in a Mylar sleeve for added protection.
Bullian obtained a $15,000 grant from the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative to pay for the process.
“Over 350 pages of historic newspapers with scattered dates ranging from 1925 through 1972 have now been preserved and are ready for library patrons to access,” according to Yaeger’s press release.
Due to the delicate nature of the papers, patrons can’t check out the newspapers. Eventually, the library hopes to create an index of subjects for each issue, Yaeger wrote.
“History is a continuum,” said Bullian.
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Article published on Thursday, March 23, 2006
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Tampa Bay Newspapers
9911 Seminole Blvd.
Seminole, FL 33772
(727) 397-5563
Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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