A Community-Funded Resource A Year in the Making
At the 2024 After Hours at the Library fundraiser, community members generously donated $130,000 to support the library, including $65,000 for library programs and services and the remaining $65,000 for our special fund-a-need project: the DIY Memory Lab. After more than a year of work led by Public Technology Services Supervisor Jim Barnes, the DIY Memory Lab will be unveiled on Friday, March 7, as a part of the festivities at this year’s After Hours at the Library fundraiser, opens a new window.
Located on the ground floor between the Local History Room, opens a new window and Meeting Room C, opens a new window, the DIY Memory Lab provides a convenient and accessible space where patrons can transfer their memories — in the form of photos, slides, cassette tapes, vinyl records, and more — into high-quality digital files to keep and share with their loved ones.
Although the library has provided access to audio-visual equipment in the past — including equipment available for checkout, opens a new window — the DIY Memory Lab creates a convenient and organized space patrons can reserve to achieve their archival needs. Where digitizing family photos, home movies, and audio tapes can often be risky, overwhelming, and expensive, the DIY Memory Lab empowers patrons to preserve those memories for free with the support of helpful library staff.
“We're trying to make digitizing and archiving older media formats really accessible and easy,” Barnes explained. “With this space and just a little bit of help from our staff, you can get started in a comfortable environment where you can have all of our equipment at your fingertips.”
Between the DIY Memory Lab’s Digitizing Station and Scanning Station patrons should have little trouble archiving historical media and personal memories for years to come.
Digitizing Station
The digitizing station is designed for transferring existing recordings into a digital format. If you have recordings on formats like film, cassettes, VHS tapes, or vinyl records that you want to convert into digital video or audio files, you’ll find everything you need in the digitizing station.
8 mm and Super 8 Film to Digital Converter
This standalone reel-to-reel device allows you to convert 8 mm or Super 8 film into a digital video file. Once you load your film and press start, the converter takes a digital photo of each frame, then organizes those photos into the frames of an MP4 file saved onto the DIY Memory Lab computer.
A 10-minute reel of film may take up to an hour to digitize, but you can always start working with the other converters and scanners in the lab while you wait.
VHS, Camcorder, Audio Cassette, and Vinyl Digitization Rack
The AV rack is the heart of the digitizing station with a wide variety of devices for converting video and audio recordings into digital files. The rack includes devices that can digitize:
- VHS / S-VHS video tapes
- VHS-C camcorder tapes
- Digital8 / Hi8 / Video8 camcorder tapes
- DV / MiniDV / DVCAM camcorder tapes
- 8mm / Super 8mm reel to reel film
- audio cassettes
- vinyl records
- CDs / DVDs
As you digitize your media, you’ll have the option to monitor the quality of the audio by using speakers or headphones.
You can also use the Blu-Ray player to burn high definition Blu-ray discs. And in the future, Barnes hopes to acquire additional equipment like a DAT player or Betamax if patrons show an interest.
“We might get another format or two as people request it,” Barnes said. “We'll keep some buffer in our budget for special things like that.”
The rack itself was specially designed for patron convenience by Lawrence carpenter Matt Moser. The height of the rack was chosen so that the devices sit around eye-level when patrons are seated.
Scanning Station
The scanning station is dedicated to converting various pieces of physical media and converting them into a digital format. If you have old photos, slides, documents, pieces of art, or books you want to save digitally, the scanning station has everything you might need to create high fidelity digital copies.
Slide Scanner with 50-Slide Magazine
While most slide scanners require you to load each individual slide one-at-a-time, this scanner has a magazine that allows you to digitize up to 50 slides at once.
“We’ve already had some slide scanners at the library, but you have to load every individual slide in, which gets pretty tedious,” Barnes explained. “Especially if you’re working alone, you have to load it, digitize it, then take it out of this little plastic slide guide, and then load in your next one. With the 50-slide magazine, you just load them all in, then it feeds them all into the machine and exports them to an SD card.”
Barnes also acknowledged that an individual could reasonably purchase a slide scanner that loads slides one-at-a-time, but he wanted to get a more efficient scanner for the library because it provides the community with a resource they couldn’t easily provide for themselves.
“Because it’s so niche, you’re probably not going to ever see a slide scanner like this anywhere except for the Lawrence Public Library. No one’s going to want to buy it themselves, but if the community can share it for free, it's a lot nicer than loading them one by one.”
Photo and Document Feeder Scanner
This photo and document scanner is a great way to scan large stacks of physical records with ease. If you wanted to scan a collection of family photos, for example, you’d place your stack of photos on the feed, choose your settings — resolution, color, front and/or back, etc. — then click scan, and the device will scan up to 50 at a time.
You also have the option to feed the photos one by one. If, for example, you want to make sure that old photos aren’t sticking together or that receipts are going through without being twisted or folded, you can start the feeder and drop each document into the scanner one after another.
After all your photos have been scanned, the scanner will open software on the DIY Memory Lab computer that allows you to easily name, date, and change the orientation of the photos. Where you would normally have to sort through digital folders, flip photos that were mistakenly scanned sideways or upside down, and name each document one at a time, the scanner software allows you to efficiently organize your scanned media as you see fit.
High-Resolution Art Scanner
For pieces of art, detailed graphics, or anything you’d like high-fidelity scans of, the high-resolution art scanner allows you to capture every little detail.
With the recommended minimum resolution for digital art being around 300 DPI, this scanner is more than capable of meeting your resolution needs with scans up to 12,000 DPI. Of course, with that high of a resolution it may take several minutes to scan, but you can always work on any other archival projects in the space while you wait.
Bookeye Scanner
The Bookeye scanner is specifically designed for scanning books without needing to press them flat on a traditional scanner bed, potentially cropping the image in an unhelpful way or damaging the book’s spine.
Simply place the open book on the scanner, then click the start to take a high resolution photo of the open pages. This scanner is particularly helpful for scanning pages from books that require delicate care like the ones you’ll find in the Local History Room, opens a new window.
Book a Session in the DIY Memory Lab
Once the DIY Memory Lab officially opens, patrons will be able to book a session, opens a new window on the library website similar to how sessions are booked in the SOUND+VISION Studio.
Depending on the day of the week, you’ll be able to book a three to four hour slot. Staff will be available from the start of the session to help get you set up and answer any questions you may have.
You don’t need to stay for the entire booked session, but the longer session period will allow you to get familiar with the technology and utilize the multiple stations and devices available.
The Future of Public Tech at the Library
Though the space is almost ready to present to the public, Barnes emphasized that he and the Public Technology team are still working on new ways to continue to connect with patrons and improve the experience.
“Since I started in 2017, I think digitization has been my favorite part because it's really special to people,” Barnes said. “They may be digitizing their wedding, or the birth of their child, or they might be digitizing memories of their deceased parents. So it can be very personal, and it's very gratifying to help them do that and connect with them about it.”
Studio Specialist Matt Pelsma, who currently supports patrons in the SOUND+VISION Studio, plans to provide additional resources and guides for the DIY Memory Lab on the library website as the Public Technology team learn the specific wants and needs of patrons using the space.
If you’re curious about how you could use the DIY Memory Lab, you can be among the first to explore the space at the After Hours at the Library Fundraiser, opens a new window on Friday, March 7! Tickets are now on sale, opens a new window, and all proceeds go to the LPL Friends & Foundation, opens a new window, which funds 100% of library programming.
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Related Resources
Audio-Visual Tools for Checkout, opens a new window
