By Hugh Pearson
Casey Cardinia Libraries are seeking donations for their local history collection archive.
They’re requesting residents of Casey and Cardinia donate books, documents, maps, images, artworks and diaries documenting the local area.
“We’re using the donation drive to try and get our community involved in recording the history because that’s what our archive is, a community archive for the documents from people, places and groups in the community,” local historian for Casey, Kate Davis said.
“We’ll be keeping stuff that’s donated safely for generations to come so it will be secure and people will be able to access it later.”
Items the Casey Cardinia Libraries receive will be catalogued and available online, although some – due to copyright problems – won’t be made available online.
“They’ll be catalogued but as to whether they’re online or not depends on the type of item it is because with images and stuff like that there are certain permissions tied to it,” Ms Davis said.
“Most stuff we’ll try to find a way to get it online and available.”
Residents of Casey and Cardinia will also be able to book appointments with the Cranbourne Library to see the archive in person.
Ms Davis said Casey Cardinia Libraries are most keen to receive items “that have something to do with Casey or Cardinia”.
“As long as it’s not an object and it’s something we can fit in the room that we don’t have already,” Ms Davis said.
Casey Cardinia Libraries are hoping their October drive will boost community engagement with the archive.
“Hopefully, it’ll be interesting to see what comes in and see what people want to share,” local historian for Cardinia, Brooke Pickering said.
“It’s always interesting to see what people consider as their heritage and what they want to share and that’s our role to preserve it and share it with the community on behalf of them.”
If you have items you would like to donate to Casey Cardinia Libraries, you can make an appointment by emailing localhistory@cclc.vic.gov.au or call 5990 0150.
