Dear Brian,

This is certainly a very valuable email in that it outlines how a negative
can be made into a positive and the fact that its very good in that the
damage is in many ways minimal.

The school board archives has now moved from the town of Simcoe to
Waterford and is in Waterford District High School.  In this way we can
take full advantage of the volunteer hours of students and have co-op
students and we had this past summer a summer student who we hope to be
able to have back again on a summer experience grant.

We are now expanding to three rooms one for each county for their
educational records and we will hopefully this year start receiving
material from the Separate School Board as they have entered into an
agreement with the Grand Erie Education Archives.

I don't know if Margaret Dryden from Norfolk County has yet contacted you
about attending a meeting as they are interested in joining with the Grand
Erie Education Archives, a division of the Grand Erie District School
Board.  She is supposed to contact about having a meeting this month to
help them work this out with us.

Best Regards
Dan Walker
Grand Erie Education Archives
"Brian Masschaele (archivist)" <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>?Dear Colleagues:
> 
>On February 8th, the Elgin County Library system suffered the misfortune
>of losing the West Lorne library branch in a fire.  The fire
>engulfed most of the building , including the library, the village's
>community complex and West Elgin Support Services.  The fire happened in
>the early morning when the building was at least vacant.  While the
>exterior walls are still standing, the entire building is essentially
>gutted.
> 
>The ensuing media coverage of the event - including the London Free
>Press, CBC Radio One and London's A Channel News -  focused largely on
>the loss of local history, including newspapers and records of the
>Women's Institute.  The Free Press' front page story the following
>day read "West Lorne history burns".  I am sending this message in order
>to clarify the facts in light of this media coverage.
> 
>First of all, I wish to highlight the tremendous support we have received
>from the A AO's Preservation Consultant, Ioan McCraith.  It remains
>a great source of comfort to have Iona available to us during this
>situation.  It's an AAO service that should never be taken for granted. 
>Secondly, I wish to commend the AAO's Archives Advisor,
>Carolynn Bart-Riedstra, for the excellent interview she gave to CBC
>Radio's "Ontario Today" that same day.  She used the opportunity to
>highlight the importance of archives, the value of a good facility ,
>the importance of microfilm and basic salvage methods.  She took a
>negative situation and made it into a valuable awareness opportunity and
>she also spoke highly of our archival program.  Again Carolynn, many
>thanks.
> 
>Now to the story:  The fact is that this situation could have been a lot
>worse.  Staff of the Elgin County Archives cleared the building of most
>archival records in 2002, including the former village's municipal
>records and several historic photographs.  In many ways, its a validation
>of the services we continue to provide to our local municipalities.  
> 
>Secondly, the extent of the damage in the library portion of the
>building, while severe, could have been much worse if not for  the
>presence of an additional brick wall separating the library from the rest
>of the building.  The local newspapers have essentially survived in tact
>short of some mild water and soot damage, owing largely to their binding
>(courtesy of a Trillium Foundation grant) and storage method. 
>Furthermore, these newspapers were previously microfilmed, with negatives
>available at the UWO Archives and two additional positive copies
>available through the Elgin County Archives.  The Tweedsmuir History and
>related material also seem to have survived relatively in tact given that
>they were stored in a glass case.  The items have now been sent for
>freeze drying and we are optimistic that they can be salvaged with
>minimal damage.  
> 
>So in summary, and despite this tragedy, the village's history has not
>burned.  The real loss is to our library patrons and to those who use the
>community services delivered from that building.  My purpose in this
>message is to at least report that out of a tragic situation, there is at
>least some good news.   
> 
>Sincerely,
> 
>Brian Masschaele, Manager of Archives
>Elgin County Archives
>450 Sunset Drive
>St. Thomas ON N5R 5V1 Canada
>Ph: 519.631.1460 ext. 138 Fax: 519.631.9209
>E-mail: [ mailto:[log in to unmask]
>][log in to unmask]
>Web:  [ http://www.elgin.ca/ ] www.elgin.ca; [
>http://www.elgin-county.on.ca/ ]www.elgin-county.on.ca
>
>
>-----------------E-Mail Scanned for Viruses, Spam and Offensive Content
>
>





E-Mail Scanned for Viruses, Spam and Offensive Content