Blog note: this article references a grand jury report.
Named in honor of a woman who “worked tirelessly to save the county’s historic records,” a celebration and dedication will be held at the recently renovated Shipley Walters Center for Yolo County Archives and Library Services next week, according to a release.
The community is invited to attend the event, happening from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, Sept. 27 at 226 Buckeye St. in Woodland.
Guests can expect speaker presentations, a tour of the Archives and refreshments.
In 2018, the Board of Supervisors approved a proposal to name the facility after Walters, who collaborated with former Yolo County Librarian Mary Stephens in the 1980s and 1990s to establish a permanent storage place for a growing collection of significant local memorabilia.
Today, the Archives consists of thousands of documents ranging from official Superior Court and Board of Supervisors records, tax rolls, immigration records, property deeds, school yearbooks, newspapers and more materials dating back to 1850.
“Yolo County has made it a practice to name buildings in honor of difference-makers who have contributed significantly to enhancing the quality of life in Yolo County,” the release states.
Additionally, Walters spent more than 4,300 hours as an Archives volunteer, was a founding member of the Friends of the Yolo County Archives and served on its Executive Board for many years. She has also written extensively about the county’s history.
Renovations began in early December after a Yolo County Grand Jury report found sensitive items were decaying and disintegrating due to a lack of climate control. Roughly $2 million was budgeted for the project.
Upgrades were outlined in the release and include a custom-built HVAC system that meets archival specifications for temperature and humidity, a reconfiguration and replacement of shelving to increase the storage capacity for the collection, new furniture in the Reading Room and staff workspaces, compliance with ADA requirements, and other improvements such as LED lighting, sprinkler systems, flooring and paint.
While work was being done at the site, staff and volunteers were relocated to cubicles in Central Services and handled research requests by phone and email on a limited basis.
Archives staff provide research assistance to county departments as needed and up to 30 minutes of free research for members of the public. Patrons also have free access to ancestry.com and more than 5,000 digital newspapers.
September 19, 2019
Daily Democrat
By Heather Kemp
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