Grant Ignites Project to Digitize Stillwater's Firefighting Heritage
Library receives $13,733 to establish digitization area for preserving Fire Department archives
Stillwater Library Board
Stillwater Public Library will soon be kicking off a new project to digitize local fire department history, thanks to a $13,733 grant from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The library board gave the green light to accept the grant at its February 26 meeting, setting the stage for a new digitization area in the library's Special Collections.
Library Director Stacy DeLano said the project will focus on digitizing archival materials from the Stillwater Fire Department that were part of Fire Protection Publications own library.
FPP is a department of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University .
"We're really excited to get these online for people," DeLano said. "There are a lot of photographs, which have been largely missing from our collection."
A few photos of First Station #1 originally located at 9th Ave. and Lewis Ave. in downtown Stillwater. Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grants are Provided by Oklahoma Historical Society. – Photos by Chris Peters
The grant will cover equipment purchases including a Bookeye 5 scanner, Epson Expression flatbed scanner, and Kodak film scanner. It will also pay for staff training on digital preservation workflows and planning.
DeLano explains that the project will help the library's technical services team develop consistent digitization processes for future projects.
"It will give Andrea's group a chance to work out the exact workflow they'll use so we can consistently digitize material and get it online," she said.
Technical Services Supervisor Andrea Kane holds a photograph of the building that once stood at the corner of 9th Ave. and Main St., now Chris Salmon Plaza. The photos are part of a collection given to the library by Fire Protection Publications, a department of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University. – Chris Peters
The library needs to provide a 10% cash match of $1,525.90 for the grant. DeLano says this will come from existing donation funds.
Board members raised concerns about potential impacts of federal funding changes on library services and grant availability.
"Is there any risk of state grants being modified as we're changing grants to universities nationwide?" asked board member Martha McMillian.
DeLano acknowledged there's some uncertainty around future Institute of Museum and Library Services funding, which supports many state-level library grants.
"We have so many great things about this library and our community that we have resources to help us through a situation," DeLano says. "We make a lot out of little and we'll do what needs to be done if something happens."
The digitization project is set to start right away, with a deadline of Feb. 17, 2026. Once completed, the digitized materials will be available online for public access.
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