Lebanon Valley Historical Society Receives Grant

The Fund for Columbia County, part of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s family of funds, has awarded $1,000 to the Lebanon Valley Historical Society (LVHS) to support digitization of the Society’s collection.  LVHS is engaged in a multi-year project to scan documents and photograph historic objects in its archives, so that they can be made easily accessible to the general public and researchers via library computer kiosks and the Internet.
The three major elements of this project are development of a professional catalog of the collection, themed research to provide a basis for the first pilot digitization work and purchase of modern imaging equipment to establish the digitization capability. The latter was the goal of the LVHS’s application to the Fund for Columbia County.  The application requested funds to purchase a new computer to replace the 10-year old PC LVHS currently owns, a high-end document scanner, a high-end digital camera, an external disk drive for data backup and an imaging software package.  This equipment, along with training for the collections committee, would support the “people, process, technology” triad needed for the digitization capability.
In the Berkshire Taconic award letter, Maeve O’Dea, Program Director, stated that “The process [of application review] was competitive and the committee was impressed with the quality of your work and your intended use of the funds.”  The total of all grant requests for 2009 was over five times the available resources, so the LVHS is fortunate to receive the grant.
The Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation has been supportive of the LVHS for many years.  In 2004, the Foundation provided funds for preservation of a rare postal map, circa 1838, that had been donated to the LVHS archives.  In 2007, the Foundation helped the LVHS obtain professional consulting services to develop a strategic plan for the Society.
LVHS plans to begin procurement of the digitization equipment, but also must continue fundraising for the project.  The total cost of the equipment is estimated at about $1,900, so more money must be raised to complete the technology acquisition.  Donors wishing to help may send funds to The Lebanon Valley Historical Society, PO Box 363, New Lebanon, NY, 12125.  Any such donation is tax deductible and will be acknowledged with a letter of thanks and receipt.