Corbin Public Library doing its part to preserve history

The Corbin Public Library is on a mission to preserve history and make it accessible to everyone in the community.

In honor of May being Historic Preservation Month, the Corbin Public Library has dedicated its time to informing others about what they have been working on to preserve Corbin’s history.

With the dedicated leadership of volunteer Tiffany Hotchin, the library is rapidly digitizing its old records, ensuring that historical information is protected for future generations.

Motivated by their commitment to preserving local history, the library’s digitization project aims to make historical documents easier to access. Fragile and aging records are being converted into a digital format, ensuring their longevity while providing convenient access for researchers, students, and anyone interested.

During the digitization process, numerous treasures have been discovered. Each record adds depth to the city’s fascinating history, from photographs to handwritten manuscripts that shed light on historical events in the City of Corbin.

Despite challenges, such as fragile documents, Tiffany has been dedicated to navigating these obstacles and ensuring that every piece of history is preserved in digitization.

“A lot of stuff has been donated by the Dizney family. We have access to a scanner which has been helpful to be able to make this information digital,” Hotchin said.

While they have made significant progress, many boxes of records still need to be explored, making it difficult to determine when the project will be completed.

To make the digitized records more accessible, the library allows anyone to go onto their computer system and go through the folders to explore the history of their ancestors or Corbin’s history. Librarians can assist anyone interested in viewing the records on a computer.

Looking ahead, Hotchin envisions a future where historical information from the City of Corbin can be accessed from the comfort of one’s home.

“I think this will be huge once people can access this information from their home. That is one of the long-term goals. I envision being able to go on to the library’s website. You could search a family name or any document, and it could pull up lists of what’s there. From your home computer, you can click on whatever you want. And if you wanted to download it onto your own computer, you could. I think this will be the biggest change with how Corbin plans to preserve history,” Hotchin said.

The library hopes to inspire interest among younger individuals in the community, encouraging them to connect with their roots.

“Often, the people that come in looking for information are older people to help them remember what they have forgotten… There are these incredibly fascinating stories and pieces of history that I think they would be interested in if they saw it,” Hotchin said.

Tiffany also dreams of creating a dedicated area downstairs where the community can view the findings, with secure display shelves ensuring the fragile documents remain safe.

“It’s an ongoing project and will probably be a project for a really long time. Hopefully, we can get everything digitized so people can access it,” Hotchin said.

If you are interested in helping with this process, go to the Corbin Public Library and introduce yourself. The library would appreciate the help preserving the City of Corbin’s history.

You will not be disappointed with what you can find in the Corbin Public Library’s History Room.