2019-2020 Innovation of the Year Award Winner: Indian River State College

Unlocking the Past: Libraries, Local History, and Student Engagement

The library system of Indian River State College has worked to become a center for digital humanities on the Treasure Coast of Florida. The library partners with faculty on archival service learning projects that engage students in the creation of history—a practice which won a 2019 exemplary practice award from the Association of Florida Colleges. In 2020, the college secured a permanent loan of historic area newspapers, the vast majority of which are unavailable in any other format. This collection, which spans from 1901 to 2008, will provide an unprecedented level of access to local history, and front-page profiles in our regional newspapers raised awareness of the project and sparked community interest. An innovative remodel of the library in conjunction with this loan has created a user-friendly archival space that will also provide access to the college’s institutional archive, and a new collaborative area in which students and faculty can work together in a café style learning space.

Innovators: Kendra Auberry, Alexis Carlson, Sara Johnson, Angie Neely-Sardon, Mia Tignor, Brett Williams

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