Success stories: user spotlights
Warren Library Association

In 2006, the Warren Library Association launched a significant digital project—the Allegheny Chronicles. The project’s goal is to preserve and provide worldwide access to archival materials portraying the history of the Allegheny Watershed and the Allegheny River.

Library staff relied on the OCLC Preservation Service Center and OCLC cataloging services staff to digitize and create metadata records for more than 350 images from the library’s Historic Warren Photograph Collection, as well as books, pamphlets and more.

Penny Wolboldt, Head of Reference, says, "Our long experience with OCLC, their commitment to sharing of resources and the professionalism of their staff has lead us to rely on them as a trusted partner in addressing current and innovative library issues and trends as well as evolving modes of high quality service delivery. OCLC’s multitude of services and unfailing support model allows us to enter new territories with enthusiasm and confidence knowing that they will keep us on the cutting edge of every good development in the world of library services."

The inaugural Allegheny Chronicles project was funded in part through a Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant administered by the Pennsylvania Office of Commonwealth Libraries. As additional funding becomes available, the library plans to work with OCLC to digitize and catalog more materials.