The purpose of the Local History area of the Joshua Hyde Public Library is to house materials relating to the history of Sturbridge and the surrounding communities. The Library will attempt to gather materials and provide services relating to the Sturbridge community, including the lives and careers of individuals who have lived in, or have directly affected the community's development. Due to the limitations of space and staffing, the Library must set priorities on the types of material collected. These priorities are as follows:
1) The primary area of concentration is material relating to the history and heritage of Sturbridge.
a. General histories of Sturbridge, along with historical information regarding culture, events, buildings, businesses, organizations, government and people are actively collected.
b. Genealogies and information regarding Sturbridge and area families are collected, but overall, genealogy is not a primary focus of the collection.
c. Some historical maps will be collected.
2) Materials relating to the surrounding towns served most frequently by our library (Holland, Wales, Brimfield, the Brookfield’s, Charlton) are the second area of concentration. Southbridge is not included in this list because of the extensive collection its public library offers in its Local History Room.
3) Histories of Massachusetts and prominent Massachusetts people.
4) Some histories of other New England states may be available, but will not be actively sought.
The Librarian and Trustees would like to state that we do not feel that we have either the faculties or the staffing required for collecting and retaining items that pertain to other areas of the state outside of those towns listed in priority #2.
GIFTS
Donations of Local History materials are accepted. All donors should receive a copy of the Library Gift Policies when the gift is delivered to the library. The Policy states that gifts of books and other materials may be added to the library’s collection, presented to another collection, sold by the Friends of the Joshua Hyde Public Library, or discarded at the discretion of the Library Director and the Trustees.
USE OF COLLECTION - RULES AND REGULATIONS
All materials must be used in either the Local History or the Reference areas of the library. Under no circumstances may any Local History item be removed from these areas. Both the public and the library staff must observe the following regulations:
Please make certain that you have clean hands before using materials from the Local History area.
Use only pencils in this area.
Patrons should check with Library staff before photocopying any materials from the Local History Collection. Because of their fragile nature, some materials should not be photocopied at all. Some materials may be photocopied by staff only.
Library staff will be happy to assist patrons in using any materials from the Local History area.