COLUMN: Carillon Flashback August 24, 1998 – New library equipment is valuable research tool

Visitors to the Jake Epp Library in Steinbach can now make a copy of most any item which appeared in The Carillon, dating back to 1946, thanks to a cooperative venture involving The Friends of the Steinbach Library and Derksen Printers.

Librarian Irmy Nikkel said a microfilm/microfiche reader/printer was installed at the library earlier this month and microfilm reproductions of the newspaper from 1946 to 1994 are the first research materials available.

Derksen Printers contributed $8,000 towards the project and a Heritage grant from the provincial government will cover the balance. The microfilm reader/printer will give the public continued access to back issues of The Carillon without risking further damage to the archive copies, which are stored at the library and in the Derksen Printers archives.

The equipment provides the library with a valuable new research tool, Nikkel said. While, at this point, The Carillon is the only microfilmed newspaper “in stock,” the library can borrow materials from the Manitoba Archives and Provincial Legislative Library for use in Steinbach.

The legislative library has microfilm of a number of other Manitoba newspapers, including Die Mennonitische Post, Nikkel explained.

The equipment will also enable local researchers to access microfilmed information from the World Lending Library, national libraries and provincial archives across the country, as well as from some private collections.

The Jake Epp Library will soon have a catalogue of what is available in the way of historical documents and international publications, Nikkel said.

The equipment will be free to use for anyone, and researchers do not have to be library members. A push of a button creates an 8½ by 11-inch black and white copy from microfilm or microfiche displayed on a monitor.

Researchers will be charged for copies, the same as other photocopying services at the library, Nikkel said. She hopes this will cover costs, but it may be necessary to raise the price a little sometime in the future.

The Jake Epp Library has just marked a very successful first year in its new building and the Friends of the Steinbach Library are looking forward to celebrating a 25th anniversary in October.

Library hours are from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.