As one of our Power of Libraries Award winners for this year, the St. Pete Beach public library was recognized for their help in creating a program focused on digitizing local history in their community.

St. Pete Beach, Florida is home to the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum. This Museum has historical artifacts that date back to before St. Pete Beach was an established city. The museum is located near the Gulf of Mexico which leaves the materials vulnerable to the threat of hurricanes and other natural consequences. Then in 2017, Hurricane Irma damaged artifacts at the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum. Seeing a need in their community, the St. Pete Beach Public Library and University of South Florida (USF) Honors College partnered together to help digitize and preserve the museum’s collection.

Come listen and learn from Betcinda Kettells, a librarian for the St. Pete Beach Public Library and Catherine Wilkins, Professor for the Honors College at USF as they share their story of how they worked together and created a course titled “How to Make History” which allowed students to be active participants in the digitizing process.

Register today to come, listen, and learn how your library can create meaningful partnerships that can bring your community together.