Thank you to everyone who attended CAA All-Ages Archives on August 22 at Oak Park Public Library. Eight people joined us to hear Chicago-area colleagues share their experiences of welcoming students of all ages into the archives.

Leigh A. Tarullo and Emily Reiher of Oak Park Public Library presented on Hacking Hemingway, a digitization and outreach project targeting middle school aged students through a partnership with the Oak Park Elementary School District. The grant-funded project not only digitized a portion of the Hemingway family collection, but it also engaged students in creative ways - introducing them to the world of archives through idea boxes, Minecraft, and 6 word stories.

Kellee Warren, Instructor and Special Collections Librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), spoke on UIC’s partnership with Chicago Metro History Fair (CMHF), an initiative to spark students’ interest in history. New to the 2016 collaboration were a change in research rules that helped ease students into working with the unfamiliar world of special collections and the introduction of a staff planning timeline to assist in better managing UIC Special Collections staff resources during the time-consuming, but fulfilling, CMHF research cycle.

Following the presentations, attendees engaged in a lively Q & A and brainstorming session.

Didn't make it to this event? Don't worry - Chicago Open Archives is just around the corner!