Are You Ready, Willing and Able to Join the Beloved BDC Docent Cadre?

It's National Volunteer Week, April 17 - 23, 2022. The BDC has a dedicated but highly selective cadre of docents who help us with specific projects and activities for whom my appreciation is heartfelt and deep. They collectively and individually do great work and most of them have been with me for a long time. In fact, you've probably read about them here in Connections through the years.

But the loss of permanent staff and frequent staff vacancies has left the BDC and the complications of the transfer of literally thousands of vertical file materials and local government documents from Hilton Head Branch Library and Beaufort Branch Library over the past 5 years problematic. The BDC has a backlog that I cannot manage on my own as the sole employee of the BDC unit. This has left me with a pressing need that I am hoping the right someone (or two someones) can help me fill. I am aware that it's going to require a special someone - or two special someones working in tandem - to complete the project.

I need help with the vertical files. This photo shows that bank of vertical file cabinets along the back wall of storage area shelving array. The magenta cabinets contain the BDC's created and cataloged for SCLENDS vertical files; the darker cabinets and boxes contain the remaining unmerged cataloged vertical files from Hilton Head Island Branch and some unmerged uncataloged vertical files from Beaufort Branch.

Here's some nerdy bits of information that you can skip over if you like: If something isn't cataloged into the SCLENDS catalog or has a Finding Aid only in the Research Room this greatly affects the accessibility of a material. All good libraries and good archival organizations want their collections to be accessible to those who might benefit from their holdings. As I have been saying ad nauseum (for some) for more than 20 years, I am not going to work here forever - and one shouldn't rely on what I tote around in my head as the access point for the BDC - and there have been projects that have definitely improved accessibility by including some of the BDC's formats into the SCLENDS catalog. For example, records for the BDC's maps are included in the SCLENDS catalog.

If only it were as simple as just dumping everything labeled "Hilton Head" into one folder in the magenta array. Trust me, it's not. I will admit that this process is not rocket science, but it is library science and archival science so that customers can easily access and evaluate research materials of a local history nature.

The goal is to get everything appropriate in the folders from the Hilton Head and Beaufort Branch vertical files appropriately merged over into folders and files in the BDC's magenta cabinets. And to do that requires careful comparison work, preservation work, intellectual work, and cataloging work.

Both the Hilton Head Island and Beaufort Branch librarians who created those files used traditional practices at the time (i.e., cutting the article out and writing the citation on the newsprint or magazine page usually in ball point pen or marker). When the files got started, it was standard practice. But as time moved on, practices evolved - and as the local history unit became more sophisticated and appropriate stewardship practices were enacted, we now know that the traditional practice must be updated to an archival practice if one wants to keep the clipping for more than 20 - 30 years. Which means that we have to transfer what former Library employees and volunteers did from 1917 to about 10 years ago to acid-free papers and cite appropriately with appropriate media for permanent retention in the Research room. All those bad paper and bad ink or bad marker clippings as shown in the next photograph have got to go - or the Library is ignoring standards of responsible cultural heritage stewardship.

As the photograph above indicates there is a lot of work to do. Preservation photocopying requires a considerable amount of standing to transfer the news clippings onto good photocopy paper - and there are lot of vertical files to review - more than a couple of thousands in all. Our photocopy machine's paten stands about 46 inches tall so sitting down to this part of the work would be impractical. (I shall await Angelina's inventory of that section for the precise current count of vertical files stored in the BDC.)

I'm looking for a person - or as I mentioned above at most two people - who can come to the BDC 6 to 8 hours a month who can line up clippings properly, who has an eye for details - that is, one who will notice if a photocopy of an article is complete with all the words and letters and lines and sections (sometimes that's off a bit) or cattywampus and take the necessary actions to make the photocopy right - and who can cite the original source fully (i.e., title of source, date, issue numbers, page numbers, author, etc.) in legible BLOCK LETTERS, - one who will acknowledge the difference between an article labeled " Marine Corps Recruit Depot -- History: Folder A: Undated Materials" and "Parris Island" or "Barnwell, John" and "Barnwell Family" when filing -- and then arrange vertical file folder contents in reverse chronological order and restore reverse chronological order if needed.

Based on my personal experience, each folder can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours to review and arrange. In some cases the same article is in the BDC's vertical files as well as in one of the folders transferred in from the Hilton Head Island and/or Beaufort Branch's discontinued vertical files-- which requires comparing the items very carefully and choosing the best one for permanent retention. So, in other words, it can be a slow and sometimes painstaking process - which is why the ability to consistently focus on details is an important characteristic for the vertical file volunteer to have.

I see the upsides of this role as:

1) You will be contributing to a thorough and cited "pointer file" of key events, people, themes, and families of Beaufort County (with some overlap of course for Jasper and Hampton Counties before they become their own governmental, political and jurisdictional entities) that will prove helpful as long as the BDC exists. I cannot tell you how often the contents of the vertical files have provided the key clue for researchers because they are countless. Ephemera files are the bomb! of local history.

2) You may just discover an interesting historical tidbit to share with others: e.g., Branch Reference Librarian Tina Mellen once won a bookmobile contest; that the first licensed African-American pilot held an airshow in Beaufort in 1932; and there was once a zoo on Bay Street... It won't happen every day, of course, but it will happen - as I have seen over and over again when I am working with the vertical files myself - and as faithful BDC Facebook readers can attest. Another way to look at it: The successful BDC vertical file volunteer will likely have great historical tidbits to weave into conversation at the next wine-and-cheese party she/he/they attends.

3) And though this might not be an upside for some people, I will provide the training and oversight until I am sure that you are doing things the way that they need to be done to comply with Library and archival standards (I'm okay if you read that " Done the way Grace wants them done." It's my job to be thorough).

Perhaps intrigued? Want to ask some questions before committing? Want to visit to see if you can work with me? Contact me bdc@bcgov.net or call 843-255-6468 so that we can set up a mutually agreeable time to discuss your interests and skills and how those might contribute to helping the BDC's mission.

Let's say that we talk. You, your skills, your free time and the BDC's needs appear to be a good fit. You'd like to volunteer here and I would like for you to join the Beloved BDC docent cadre. At that point, I shall supply you with the required paperwork for volunteering for Beaufort County governmental entities and more specifically for the Beaufort County Library, the broad outlines of which are: Volunteers must possess a valid Beaufort County Library card and be at least 16 years of age to be considered. For safety and security reasons all volunteers are required to complete a brief application and background check prior to volunteering. Volunteer service cannot begin until the Library is notified by the County's Human Resources department that you have passed the background check. Then I put you on the schedule and provide you with the training to be successful as the Beloved BDC vertical file docent.