Library Relocates Historical Records

Sonoma County Library began the process this week of relocating historical records (also known as the Sonoma County Archives) to a safe location in Santa Rosa, away from Los Guilicos, a county-owned facility threatened by wildfire in recent years.

“Rescuing these materials from the path of fire has been a priority for the library and I’m happy to see this milestone in process,” said Sonoma County Library Director Ann Hammond.

The library has managed the records – most of which are owned by the County of Sonoma – since the 1960s. The records are a mix of decades-old leather-bound, handwritten ledgers, relatively recent business records and a variety of other materials.

The library and the county share the cost of the relocation. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a $140,000 allocation for lease costs for the first two years, and the Sonoma County Library Commission approved a $137,000 allocation for an inventory of the records, professional packaging and moving and reconfiguring the new space in Santa Rosa.

The relocation is not permanent, but gives the county and the library time to develop a long-term solution to store the records. “We’re grateful to the county for partnering with us to address this issue,” said Hammond. “We look forward to a productive conversation moving forward.”

The records will be inaccessible for approximately eight weeks, while they are packaged and moved to an interim storage facility and the new space is reconfigured. Once the work is complete and the materials are suitably shelved, researchers will be able to request materials again.

“Researchers and local historians will be able to request materials, which will be made available by appointment at our History & Genealogy Library in downtown Santa Rosa,” Hammond explained. “This process is how we’ve managed and protected these records successfully for years, and it will continue.”