Over the past few years, the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society has worked in collaboration with Cavan Monaghan Libraries in a number of ways.
The Millbrook branch of the library is the location of the heritage display cabinet where MCHS Board member Peter Ramsay curates exhibits featuring both local artifacts and heritage collections. The library offers access to Ancestry Library Edition for genealogy research (available on-site only). A number of events have been cooperatively organized in the Harry Williams Room, including a Remembrance Day Movie Night featuring a World War II documentary feature produced by a former Millbrook resident. Library staff often receive inquiries from patrons and visitors about local heritage features and programming and pass them along to MCHS.
Building on this partnership, and in the interests of better serving our community and making the MCHS collection more accessible to the public, the Board of MCHS and CM Libraries’ CEO felt it made sense to enhance the relationship between the two organizations. The Millbrook branch has invited MCHS to house their archives in a designated area at the Old Millbrook School that is currently used for storage. The move will make accessing the collection and responding to inquiries easier and more efficient; library staff and MCHS volunteers will be able to refer to the collection catalogue and help those with questions about family histories and past local events find what they are looking for.
Commenting on the suitability of the enhanced partnership, MCHS President Celia Hunter states, “This match is not an uncommon one. Many local archives are partnered with municipal libraries. Regional examples include Port Hope, Cobourg, Otonabee-South Monaghan in Keene, and Clarington Public Library in Bowmanville.”
Prior to finding a home in the library, the MCHS archives have been stored in space rented from Glenn Fallis, owner of Voyageur Canoe Company. The MCHS Board has expressed deep gratitude for the generosity and support that Glenn and Jerry have consistently shown towards the Historical Society throughout the past decade and more.
Plans are underway to complete the move by May 1, 2023.
By Rachel Finnie
