St. Augustine Research Library Offers Public Rare Digitized Documents

By THEO KARANTSALIS

If you ever wanted to peer into St. Augustine’s past, besides circling it in a trolley, you might want to sift through a hidden treasure uncovered by the St. Augustine Historical Society.

A rare collection of books, photographs and documents dating back hundreds of years, will soon be made available to the public – after they are digitized.

“We’ve embarked on a plan to digitize our collection and make it available to everyone,” said Chief Librarian Jess May, a former Hewlett-Packard employee. “We want to share it.”

The Research Library was formed as an alliance between the Free Library Association of St. Augustine and the St. Augustine Historical Society, both established in the 19th century.

The library’s collection includes books and photographs that document the city’s storied past.

“We have items here that date back to the 16th century,” said Dr. Susan Parker, the society’s executive director. “This is the oldest historical society in the state.”

Most of the older documents are in Spanish. Parker, who speaks Spanish, also added that books from the 17th century are in better shape than those from the 18th century, and attributes this to the quality of paper.

Aside from books and photos, Parker said that the collection includes:

- translations of the earliest church records in the nation that date back to 1594;

- copies of official Spanish and British Colonial documents, from 1513-1821;

- the oldest municipal and county records in Florida, from 1812-1821; and,

- genealogical data from the sixteenth century to today.

Parker said that Minorcan descendants will find a “one-of-a-kind” resource at the library that will allow them to research their genealogy. Minorca, which means "minor island," is one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and is part of Spain.

“People come from all over to do research here,” said May. “One professor came all the way from U.C. Davis in California to research a load of chocolate that came into St. Augustine in the early years.”

The library’s goal is to preserve its collection while making it available to the public.

May said that digitizing a rare collection is labor intensive and that the library is relying on its “great volunteers” to complete the task. The library actively seeks volunteers and has reached out to library schools to promote internships in return for college credit.

“Every drawer is another 5 years of work,” said May. “It never stops.”

The research library is located at 6 Artillery Lane in St. Augustine. It is open Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the third Saturday of each month, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For information, call 904-824-2872.

Photo: Chief Librarian Jess May (left) and St. Augustine Historical Executive Director Dr. Susan Parker.


Theo Karantsalis is the assistant library director at Miami Dade College’s North Campus.