Local Studies has a new name – ‘Heritage Services’.

The Local Studies Collection has played an integral role in the Library’s services since its inception in the 1970’s. The Local Studies Collection attempts to collect, organise and maintain materials dealing with the Geraldton-Greenough area and the Mid West Region. The collection includes books, photographs, maps, newsletters, annual reports, oral history interviews, local newspapers on microfilm from 1878 and rate books dating back to 1900.

In recent years, the role of this department has expanded to include a range of services which are beyond that of merely collecting relevant material.

These services are aimed at promoting the heritage of the Mid West Region through publishing, oral history projects, digitising of materials, the provision of online materials via the library website and the preservation of materials through the establishment of a Community Archive.

In order to reflect this growth, the department has been renamed “Heritage Services” and is to be promoted as such.
The name change is now consistent with other service departments within the Library: E-Services, Client Services and Special Services.
The collection of reference material within Heritage Services will still be referred to as “The Local Studies Collection”.

An example of the many photographs held by our Local Studies collection.