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Historical Records Commission
County Of Sonoma › Administrative Support & Fiscal Services › Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters › Historical Records Commission › Calendar › Historical Records Commission Minutes June 9 2022
Historical Records Commission

Historical Records Commission Minutes June 9, 2022

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Members present:
Eric Stanley (Chair)
Margaret Purser (Vice-Chair)
Steven Lovejoy
Vacant

Members excused:
Gretchen Emmert

Associate Members present:
Amanda King, Secretary
Erika Thibault, Deputy Director, Sonoma County Library

Guests present:
Zayda Delgado, Supervising Librarian, History & Genealogy Library
Mikey Mueller, Land Surveyor

  1. Call to order 4:00 pm
  2. Introduction of Guests
  3. May 12, 2022 minutes approved
    1. Motion by Steven Lovejoy
    2. Second by Margaret Purser
    3. Approved
  4. Budget Discussion
    1. Balance is $3,834.31
    2. If Mikey Mueller is approved as an HRC Member the Secretary will need to order new Business Cards
  5. Continuing Business
      1. HRC Commissioners Report
        • Steven's report:
          • Contacted Ann about arrangements for other tour locations
          • Contacted Center for Sacramento History, Archivist Nick Piontek, for a tour. Need to give them a couple of dates to choose from. 
            • Steve will send out an email to gather available times and who would be interested in attending.
        • Margaret's report:
          • Have been getting very positive and excited feedback from folks at SSU to be involved in the Restrictive Covenant Modification Project
        • Eric's report:
          • No report
        • Secretary's report:
          • Update on the status of the Restrictive Covenant Modification Project plan for the County Recorder
      2. Library Commissioner Report  
        • Update by Ann Hammond:
          • Library Commission met this week and they announced they will appoint Erika Thibault as the Interim Library Director after Ann’s retirement in July.
          • Commission passed the budget for the coming fiscal year
          • Hiring more staff and starting to operate on Sundays sometime in the Fall
          • Summer Reading has a lot of fun things happening at the different library locations
          • Updates on Steve’s Questions and MOU/Library
            • Any more talk about the library purchasing the building in Rohnert Park?
              • Library support services currently operates out of the leased facility in Rohnert Park and that lease expires in September 2023. We are doing our due diligence for most cost effective and practical solution for the library.  That may mean staying where we are, moving to another location, leasing another location, or purchasing another location.  Looked at a number of different properties in and around Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa.  Have not made any decisions/not our decision to make.  Information gathering and will put it all together in a staff report to the Library Commission and they will make the decision on the direction to go in. Our goal if we move to another location, we would like to have enough space to house the County Archives within that same location.  Would make it easier in terms of operations.  Think that it would be a practical solution but nothing has been decided.  The decision would be made by the Library Commission and the County Board of Supervisors.  I do not have an estimate time frame at this point.
            • Update by Erika Thibault on the status of the operating agreement with the County
              • Working on terms for our agreement. Have a draft of Deed of Gift.  Working on a collection development description and scope for the Archives.
              • We would like to see an Archive that meets all of our needs and provides patrons with more access than they currently have but we will need to figure out costs such as infrastructure, IT, facility and delivery, as well as staffing.  We will propose the ideal and let the County propose what they are willing to contribute.  Based on where we meet will determine a lot of these factors.
              • Update on question from Steve from last meeting: do we have funds in our budget for processing supplies?
                1. We do not have a regular line item budget for processing. That is something that we will be putting in this agreement.  Funds to rehouse the current collection as well as future funds for any new items we receive.
                2. Steve: That is a great development. That was definitely lacking in the prior agreement as to who is going to pay for what.  Rehousing those materials will make it easier for the public to get access to them. 
              • Update by Zayda Delgado on the status of the searchable inventory
                1. On the inventory we did last year, we have the inventory in a very large spreadsheet. We are working to convert the spreadsheet into an accessible version for the public.  Hoping to have it be a searchable inventory.
                2. Adopted a new software called Archives Space
                3. Steve: The current finding aids that have been updated to online Archives have a lot of formatting issues.
                  1. Zayda: Those were not generated through Archives Space. Once we have all the new information in Archives Space, we will generate new PDFs for the online archives of California.
                4. Steve: Are you using the inventories that were done in 1979 and 1982 in terms of text as to what the records are and their context when you put that in the finding aid? In those inventories they wrote a paragraph about why it was created, how many volumes there were, and stuff like that.
                  1. Zayda: We have not gone to that part of the project yet. Right now we are looking at how we want Archives Space to function for us and we will go back at those collections more closely.
          • The Library Commission voted to change its meeting time to the first Wednesday of each month
      3. Archives Activity Report
        • Update by Zayda Delgado:
          • Five (5) requests in May 2022 all from the County.
          • On Monday, the Library Commission was able to approve the conversion of the Senior Library Associate position to a Librarian position. So, there will be another Librarian at H&G we will recruit coming soon.
          • H&G hiring Part Time Library Associate position hopefully within the next month.
          • Sunday library hours will not include H&G Library. 
      4. Collections & Archives Recognition Awards
        • Discussion on having categories for the most recent awards and if HRC wants to continue with that type of awarding.
        • Discussion on needed edits to the forms
          • Steve to make edits to the forms and prepare a press release and send to Secretary for approval at the July meeting. 
        • Secretary to create a Collections & Archives Recognition Awards website, include past winners and post the updated forms when available.
      5. Outreach
        • Update on the 2004 HRC/Landmarks Commission Pamphlet, “ Researching the History of Your Sonoma County Building”:
          • Update by Margie Purser:
            • Fine-tuning the document with edits and expecting to submit to Secretary by July 15, 2022 for remediation.
        • Other California County Historical Records Commission
          • No update
        • Sonoma County Historical Society 60th Anniversary and Sonoma County Finding History Day, Saturday, August 6, 2022, Finley Community Center, 10AM-2PM
          • HRC members to review HRC brochure and Archives Fact Sheet and come with updates to discuss at the July meeting.
            • In lieu of Archives Fact Sheet, include a link in the HRC brochure to the H&G website. HRC website does include a link to the H&G website.
        • 2022 California Preservation Conference, Opening Doors, Tuesday, June 7, 2022 – Sunday, June 12, 2022, Online and In-Person throughout the state
      6. HRC member vacancy update
        • Mikey Mueller will be recommended for appointment at the July 12, 2022 Board of Supervisors meeting.
      7. Clerk of the Board of Supervisors pre-1906 BOS Meeting Minutes
        • Zayda has reached out and there has been no update.
    1. New Business
      1. Discussion of possible in-person meeting location
        • July 14, 2022 meeting will be held at the County Clerk-Recorder if virtual meeting rules change.
    2. Public Comment
      1. Sonoma County Heritage Network Meeting, July 9, 2022, 10AM-12PM, Petaluma Historical Library and Museum
      2. Library Commission meeting, July 6, 2022, 6pm, on ZOOM   
      3. Museum of Sonoma County Exhibits:  
        • Light, Clay, and Copper: Mid-Century Arts and Crafts in Sonoma County, August 20, 2021-Ongoing:  https://museumsc.org/light-clay-and-copper/
        • Year of the Tiger: Chinese Traditions in Sonoma County, 1890-2022, February 5, 2022-Ongoing
        • Manzanar: The Wartime Photographs of Ansel Adams, February 19, 2022-May 29, 2022
        • At The Forge: Blacksmithing in Sonoma County, May 14, 2022-June 26, 2022
        • Collective Arising: The Insistence of Black Bay Area Artists, June 25, 2022-November 27, 2022
        • SoCoClicks, July 9, 2022-September 10, 2022
    3. Meeting adjourned at 5:05PM


    Next Meeting - July 14, 2022 - ZOOM, 4:00PM