Orange : Library to Get Access to Historical Collections
The Orange Community Historical Society Board and the City Council have approved an agreement to loan the society’s historical collections to the Orange Public Library.
“This move will give the public increasingly good access to the material,” said Historical Society archivist Phil Brigandi.
The historical society’s collection will be moved to the main library at 101 N. Center St., Orange, where librarians skilled in handling historical documents can assist persons interested in research, a society spokesman said.
“We hope to transfer the materials between July and September and have a grand opening in September,” head librarian Karen Leo said.
The collection includes an estimated 375 books, 600 photographs, 15 scrapbooks and 13 1/2 cubic feet or 10,500 separate clippings, pamphlets, organization records and other documents. It had been housed in basement of the Orange National Bank and was available only by appointment during banking hours, Leo said.
“The library is going to be able to catalogue this material so that if somebody wants to know about a particular family, we can tell them where to find the materials,” she said. “Before, they would have to go to each book and look in each index.”
The library has applied for a state grant of about $80,000 to hire additional staff to perform the indexing, she said.
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