El Centro Library launches Community Archive for Imperial Valley
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA) - Dust off your old family photos, letters, and keepsakes. The El Centro Library is launching a new community archive project to ensure the history of the Imperial Valley is preserved for generations to come.
From now through September 12, residents can bring historical memorabilia to the library, located at 1198 N. Imperial Avenue, to be scanned, photographed, and added to a permanent digital archive.
Project creators say the effort is born out of a need to document a region that is often left out of standard history textbooks.
"In our area specifically, we're not really in history books, so I feel like it's very important to archive the Imperial Valley, our community, and everyone that's here," said Ruby Duran Ramirez, the archive project creator and library assistant. "We want future generations of people from the Imperial Valley, and even outside of the Imperial Valley, to know who we are, what we are, and the community that we are."
The initiative aims to build a comprehensive look at the region by collecting family traditions, neighborhood business records, and personal journals that reflect everyday life in the valley. The project also aligns with the nationwide commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, highlighting how local stories weave into national history.
Organizers emphasize that items do not need to be ancient to be valuable to the archive.
"For things to be archived, they don't have to be 50 years old or 100 years old. History is in the making," Duran Ramirez said. "If something is current right now, it's going to be history 50 to 100 years from now. Where we live is going to completely change...Everything needs to be recorded because once these things are lost and forgotten, they're lost and forgotten forever."
While library staff is eager to collect a wide array of visual items, they stress that a picture is only worth a thousand words if they know who and what is in it.
"We love pictures, but we also need the names of the people in the pictures," Duran Ramirez explained. "We need the stories behind the pictures because if we don't have that information...how are people going to be able to look back in the future and understand who these people are and the history behind them?"
To protect family heirlooms, residents do not need to permanently surrender their treasures. Library staff will carefully digitize the artifacts and return all original pieces to their owners immediately.
Residents looking to participate can bring in a wide variety of items, including old photographs, letters, documents, local historical items, and family memorabilia. The library will be accepting these submissions through Saturday, September 12.
Following the collection period, selected artifacts will be displayed in the Library's Community Room from September 14 through September 30 during regular hours, with a broader community showcase officially kicking off the week of September 21.
Participation is entirely free, but community members must schedule an appointment in advance. To book an appointment to share your story, call the El Centro Library at (760) 337-4565.
