Swarthmore Friends Historical Library (SFHL) has agreed to house SCYM yearly and monthly meeting archive materials. The archivists there encourage all SCYM monthly meetings and worship groups to consider SFHL their primary depository and send materials regularly. They will box materials by the meeting and the type, eventually creating an internet accessible finding aid for each box. Archives remain the property of the meeting but become available to historians and genealogists in a central location.

At yearly meeting sessions 2009 Friends approved a minute designating SFHL as SCYM’s official depository (see YM 09-21 on opposite page). Some SCYM materials are at SFHL already including copies of most proceedings and all the newsletters. Other materials have recently been unpacked into the new Friends Meeting of Austin meeting house library, including some records of other meetings in SCYM. Liz Yeats, SCYM archivist, is working to organize and send more SCYM records to SFHL, where they will be safer and more accessible to historians. As archivist for Austin Friends she hopes to do the same with those monthly meeting records. Contact Liz at archivist@scym.org if you are curious about your monthly meeting records stored in Austin.

Liz met with the archivists at SFHL when researching the history of SCYM in 2009. She was encouraged to discover they are fairly relaxed about the condition in which they receive materials. They emphasized materials must be free of insects and mold, both of which can contaminate and damage other items. Records are not required to be on acid free paper although such paper retards deterioration. If you have time to organize, excellent, but they would rather have disorganized records than loose the chance to make them available.

The library also accepts items, such as pictures, directly connected with meeting history. (They have a wonderful collection of Quaker bonnets. Wonder how they would react to a Quaker ten-gallon hat?) It’s wise to check with them before sending materials other than papers.

SFHL doesn’t accept digital materials right now though they hope to equip themselves digitally soon. If you have questions about your archives, please email Liz Yeats at archivist@scym.org or contact Swarthmore Friends Historical Library directly at friends@swarthmore.edu; 610-328-8496; www.swarthmore.edu/fhl.xml.