Friday, October 30, 2009

High School Yearbooks: An Essential Part of a Library's Local History Collection


A fact not mentioned in the article.

Although yearbooks are rarely displayed on open shelves -- Two Rivers about 8 or 9 years being the only exception in my experience -- public libraries still provide the best access to these volumes.

Link to October 30 Fond du Lac Reporter article, "Old yearbooks are a window into Fondy's rich history".

Excerpt: The first high school in the city of Fond du Lac was opened in January 1859 by Edwin C. Johnson and Miss. M.S. Merrill in what was known as the Sewell store on Main Street.

The students perpetrated many a gibe over the fact that the nearest streets and the teachers had the same names. The school enrolled nearly 100 students, and was free to all residents of the city who could pass an exam in geography, arithmetic and grammar.

Flash forward to today. Fond du Lac is home to a $39 million state-of-the-art high school, opened in Sept. 2001 and boasted to be the largest in the state. Over 2,000 students are enrolled.
Principal Jon Wiltzius said sesquicentennial festivities will culminate with an all-class reunion to be scheduled in spring 2010.

3 comments:

Lake Mills Library said...

What really needs to be done is getting the books scanned and posted online. (Once I get permission anyway.)

I am also surprised many libraries only have one copy. I've started to order two.

Amber said...

Once you obtain permission, they can be uploaded for all to see at www.yearbookbound.com. There are already several copies online- I just posted my school's yearbook today.
Hope this helps ;)

Joe Bongers said...

As I read this post at the Reference Desk somebody called wondering if we had local high school yearbooks.