WHEELING - Through a collaborative effort between the Wheeling Newspapers and the Ohio County Public Library, a collection of classic editions of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register will be preserved in one place.
A story published in Friday's edition of The Intelligencer explained that the Ohio County Public Library had planned to distribute its collection of newspapers printed between 1875 and 1950 to the general public at 10 a.m. today.
But after careful consideration, the newspaper company decided to take possession of the papers with the goal of preserving them at one location for future generations.
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"After the story was published, we decided that we needed to keep the collection together. The newspapers were very generous in offering to take the collection to preserve the history," said Dottie Thomas, library director.
Maintaining the collection in one place eventually will allow local history and genealogy researchers to access the entire 75-year span of records. Had the newspapers been distributed to the general public, this single archive of printed copies would not have been available, Thomas noted.
Therefore, those looking to research the papers' coverage of such historical events as World War I, World War II and the Great Depression will be able to find the papers in one place.
"This is the best solution for both the library and the newspapers," she said.
Thomas said the library is in the midst of a remodeling project that will require it to convert the space the newspapers previously occupied into meeting space. "The library, because it is expanding its meeting room space, just could not store the papers anymore," she said.
Most of the papers in the collection are very fragile, due to their age. So the plan to keep the papers in one location should prevent unnecessary and irreparable damage to the irreplaceable records.
The newspapers are delighted to have the chance to preserve and protect the archives, with the opportunity to make them even more valuable in the future.
Thomas emphasized the library still will have all of the classic newspapers available to the public via microfilm.
"These old newspapers represent an incredible treasure trove of history," said J. Michael Myer, executive editor of the newspapers. "In addition to the big stories, the 75 years of The Intelligencer and the News-Register are invaluable resources for local historians and for people tracing their family histories. By keeping them together, we are ensuring that those stories are available as a whole, rather than separated, as would have occurred had the collection been dispersed.
"We at the newspapers are especially grateful to the library for its stewardship of the historic newspapers for many decades - and for library officials' eagerness to work with us to preserve the collection," he said.