CDLC Annual Meeting

Join us for CDLC’s Annual Membership Meeting.

Enjoy a FREE hot breakfast buffet, connect with fellow members, and hear member presentations along with the latest CDLC updates.

No cost for CDLC or personal members—just great food, great company, and great conversations!

Mingle, share ideas, and celebrate our community. We’d love to see you there!

2025 Annual Meeting Agenda

9:00-10:00 Registration and Hot Breakfast Buffet

10:00-10:20 Welcome and CDLC Update

10:20-10:50 Unveiling History: Recovering Burnt Documents from the 1911 Capitol Fire
Cher Schneider and Elizabeth Jakubowski, The NYSED Office of Cultural Education (OCE)

The Office of Cultural Education (OCE) Conservation and the New York State Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections department are collaborating with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to recover burnt documents from the 1911 Capitol fire using advanced multispectral imaging techniques. This devastating fire destroyed over 800,000 items from the NYS Library’s collections. To this day, more than 80,000 burned artifacts remain inaccessible for research and use.
With this cutting-edge technology, we can now reveal and recover missing information from the damaged areas of these historic documents. Over the past six months, we have established strong partnerships with RIT and conducted a pilot project.
Moving forward, we plan to expand this initiative by bringing in RIT graduate students to continue the work, alongside students from SUNY's Library Department, Buffalo or NYU conservation students, or other specialized programs, through summer internships.
This ongoing effort will not only help restore invaluable historical materials but also foster collaboration and provide hands-on learning opportunities for students interested in conservation and advanced imaging technology.

10:50-11:20 Celebrating Local History: The Champlain Canal Stories
Todd DeGarmo, The Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library

Champlain Canal Stories is an original video series written, directed, and produced by the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library. Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Champlain Canal from Whitehall to Waterford, the video series shines a light on this under represented portion of the NYS canal system, with 30 videos freely available via our website, YouTube channel, and iPad kiosks placed with a dozen partner sites all the along the canal corridor.

11:20-11:50 Genealogy Day: Connecting Community Through History
Tenaya Bannon and Regina Berry, Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library

On International Genealogy Day, we held a Genealogy Day at the Library. We had presentations from professional genealogists, the Town of Clifton Park Historian, library staff, the Saratoga County Historian, and staff from the New York State Archives. Four local organizations related to genealogy tabled during the event: Heritage Hunters, Capital District Genealogical Society, the New York State Archives, and the Saratoga County Historian's office.
Participants had the opportunity to receive hands-on help from library staff, a professional genealogist, the Town of Clifton Park Historian, and volunteers. The Friends of the Library provided light refreshments for the middle portion of the day. Because of the nature of the event, a precise attendance count wasn't possible, but based on the attendance at the various talks, traffic at the tables, and the hands-on workshop, we estimate around 60 people attended. We are considering running the event again next year.

11:50-12:00 CDLC Business Meeting; Future Initiatives; Acknowledgment of Outgoing Board Members

Link to the full agenda: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRwQrYEZe3eNlsRDM8iH0IH0WuxpsCmyj4SahQ0S05DoKzJD5OL7QqVBV2xD51xshEpQzUWi9bYB3KK/pub

Related LibGuide: Continuing Education and Events

Date:

Friday, May 16, 2025

Time:

9:00am - 12:00pm

Location:

Capital District Library Council

Categories:

  Advocacy     CDLC Service Meeting     Continuing Education     In Person Event