July 1, 2008 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Timeline Displays Rich History of the Onondaga County Public Library

1830's cabinet-style bookcase with volumes to loan. It was located in the vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

SYRACUSE, NY —  Onondaga County Public Library is well-known for its genealogy collection, resources and service.  Now you can browse the history of the library using the new OCPL Timeline by visiting www.onlib.org and clicking on “Come Explore OCPL’s History.” 

“The timeline evolved from a presentation about the history of the OCPL for a library Staff Development Day following a request from Dr. Joyce Latham a few years ago,” said Dan Smith, Librarian in the Local History department at Central Library.  “Until the mid-1980’s, printed publicity for the library was kept in annual scrapbooks and these provided a great resource for compiling a timeline.  Along with annual reports and library vertical files, a number of large format professionally-photographed and downloadable pictures have been placed on the website.”  The timeline begins in the early 1800’s with a bookcase for the public in Salina Town Hall.  In 1858 the first Central Library was established.  The tool allows the viewer to travel through present day noting all of the developments, progress, technology and library directors along the way.

The timeline is also interactive.  Photographs are linked to images on OnPix, an ongoing digitization project of Central’s Local History department.  Patrons can download photos and add comments to the pictures.  Library staff hope that patrons will identify some of the people in the photos whose names are not recorded.  The timeline is also searchable.  If a patron is interested in researching a particular library, they can type in the name and access all related information and photos. 

“We would really like this collection to include the community’s knowledge about itself, and invite residents of the greater Syracuse area to participate,” says Latham.  The Local History department at Central Library is happy to accept any donated library-related photos and add them to the collection.

For more information on the timeline please contact Denise Headd, Public Information Specialist for the Onondaga County Public Library, at 435-1830.