Field Trip to the AHC! Friday, Feb. 24th (12:30-5:30)

Just as I started my shift, our community archivist Marina and our records analyst Jenna lead a workshop for a group of middle school students from the Headwater School. They learned about what archives are, and participated in group activities. At the end, they talked about what they learned (how important and cool archives are!) and what they liked the most (the microfilm machines)! As they were leaving one of the young students told me that his grandfather donated items to the Austin History Center. Although he didn't have time to view those materials then, I invited him to come back to look at them another time.

A couple of patrons came in together looking to research information about their house because they want to seek historic designation status. I showed them our guide to conducting property research and they began searching through the criss-cross city directories to learn the history of its past occupants and perhaps pinpoint the date range in which it was built. That's all they had time for that day, but said they'd be back to do some more research next week. A few other patrons came in to look around but didn't really want to do research. When my shift was over, I shifted to answering reference emails--one about the address of a restaurant from the 1990s so I looked at the City Directories and let him know we had no information on a restaurant of that name. The second inquiry related to what informaton we have about early black settlements in Austin; I emailed the patron to let him know that we have lots of helpful information, resources, and maps on the topic and invited him to visit the AHC to view these items. After I wrapped up with the reference emails, I pitched in with re-shelving materials.

Maria-Elena Cigarroa

Supervisor: Jennifer Hecker

General Schedule: Sundays (11-6); Thursdays (2:00-6:00); Fridays (12:30-5:30)