The Yolo County Archives and Records Center in Woodland will undergo a major renovation starting this fall and into mid-2019.
Located at 226 Buckeye St., the antiquated structure houses historic documents and memorabilia and is part of the county’s library system. The building and maintenance of artifacts came in for criticism earlier this year by the Yolo County Grand Jury.
In July, however, county supervisors allocated $1.999 million to begin an upgrade of the metal-walled structure.
According to county spokeswoman Beth Gabor, the renovations will necessitate the historic Archival Collection and the items stored in the Records Center to be moved off-site and stored in secured, climate controlled facilities. As such, public access at the location will be suspended beginning Oct. 1, until the anticipated project completion date of May 1, 2019.
The Archives will continue to make researcher appointments, as space allows, Gabor noted. The times available will be Tuesdays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays from noon to 4 p.m., through Sept. 27. Thereafter, Archives staff will handle research requests by phone and email on a more limited basis. The public will continue to have access to digital resources and digitized materials online at yolocountylibrary.org on the Yolo County Archives page.
In July, Director of General Services for Yolo County Kevin Yarris told supervisors that many alternatives were looked at when deciding what to do with the facility.
“The most cost-effective decision was to keep it where it was and to increase the climate control systems in there as well as do some building improvements to keep moisture out,” Yarris said. There are three phases the building must go through for the project, including renovation of the archives, security improvements and renovation of staff areas and making sure the structure meets compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, with ADA and security improvements and renovations to the staff areas.
The project gained momentum in June when the grand jury reported the historical records housed in the aged structure “are decaying and disintegrating in an inadequately temperature- and humidity-controlled building.”
The grand jury report recommended supervisors approve funding this fiscal year for a “large-scale modern scanner and digital asset management system that would allow documents to be digitized and stored online where they would be safe from further environmental damage, including fire and flooding, and easier for the public to search, view and copy.”
The recommendations came at nearly the same time the county started seeking nominations for naming the Library and Archives Building.
Judy Wohlfrom, forewoman for the grand jury, reported most of the work was centered around meeting the goals of the Yolo County Library Facilities Master Plan 2018-2035, prepared last year.
That plan, Wohlfrom stated, recommends mitigating environmental problems at the current Yolo County Archives and Records Center, including repairs to the HVAC system. The plan also recommends finding permanent new quarters for the Archives by 2035 and increasing staff size to provide for expanded public access.
“The Archives contains thousands of documents, including official records of the Board of Supervisors, the County Clerk/Recorder, Superior Court, and the Board of Education, as well as tax rolls, naturalization and immigration records, and property deeds,” the grand jury report noted. “It also contains diverse subject collections concerning schools, towns, churches, businesses, and cemeteries as well as maps, photographs, yearbooks, community and family collections and newspapers.”
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.
“The Archives and Records Center is a county treasure,” stated Wohlfrom. “Our investigation found significant problems that should be addressed to ensure this irreplaceable resource remains available for future generations.”
The grand jury’s report, “Improving the Yolo County Libraries and Archives,” identified several other issues impacting local libraries, including use of libraries by homeless, indigent and mentally ill individuals for non-library purposes such as bathing and napping.
August 31, 2018
Daily Democrat
By Democrat staff
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