This summer, Skidompha Library’s staff genealogist and volunteers are offering a service that will benefit patrons, future researchers and the library collection. For generations, many families recorded important dates by inscribing them within family Bibles. Eventually, printers of Bibles began to include special pages between the major sections of the Bible for this purpose. Thesemight be found between the Old Testament and the New Testament or between the Apocrypha and the Old and New Testaments. Sadly, many of these family treasures are ending up at the transfer station, discarded with the current generation unaware of the unique information these volumes often contain. And even if not discarded, some pages likely will become increasingly fragile over time, eventually crumbling or becoming illegible.

To help keep this valuable information safe, the Damariscotta library has set up four days on which, by appointment, anyone may bring in a family Bible or other book containing similar vital records such as marriages, births, and deaths, for copying and scanning.

Patrons will go home with their original artifact, a paper copy of each page, and a resource sheet with suggestions for storage of their book or Bible. Also, patrons who bring in a flash drive can take home the pages in digital form as a backup to these unique family records. The library will store a copy and enter the data into the Skidompha Online Digital Archives (which can be found at http://skidompha.advantage-preservation.com).

Samples of scans can be seen on the Skidompha Library Genealogy Facebook page. Appointments can be made for Wednesdays, July 5, Aug. 16, and Aug. 23 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and Monday, July 17 between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. To schedule an appointment, please email Kathleen Maclachlan, staff genealogist, at kmmac06@outlook.com or contact the library at 563-5513.