Library Awarded Digitization Grant

The Frankfort Community Public Library (FCPL) has received a Library Services and Technology Act Digitization Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), administered by the Indiana State Library, for $7,075. With the funds received from this grant, FCPL will purchase new equipment to aid in slide digitization as well as hire a part-time temporary digitization assistant. FCPL’s Adult Services Department applied for this grant in order to further the library’s efforts to digitize the James Ostler Slide Collection. The goal of this project is to digitize and upload approximately 1,200 more slides to Indiana Memory. The slides selected for digitization under this grant show Clinton County residents participating in community events and enjoying seasonal activities in the 1950s; therefore, Clinton County: Fun in the ‘50s has been chosen as the title of this project.

James Ostler, postman and amateur photographer, chronicled Clinton County life with his camera from the time he was hired by The Farmers Bank in 1951 until his death in 1975. After he took them, the pictures could be seen in a slideshow at the bank. The collection encompasses everything from school events, club meetings, and school games to political affairs, businesses, and organizations. Many Clinton County residents still remember Ostler’s taking photographs at community events. Ostler took approximately 20,000 slides for the bank.

In the 1980s, these slides along with those taken by other individuals were donated to the library by The Farmers Bank. In 2013 the library started digitizing the collection focusing primarily on those slides taken in the 1950s because they were beginning to fade and deteriorate. In 2014 FCPL had its first of five exhibits asking residents to identify the individuals in the slides that had been digitized. The library began uploading the digital images along with the information gleaned from the public and staff research to Indiana Memory in 2015. Now these images are accessible to researchers from all over the world, and thanks to this grant there will be more to come in the near future.

This project is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Indiana State Library. The IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. Its mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement.

IMLS Website
Indiana State Library
Indiana Memory Collection- James Ostler