Library Archives and Special Collections

Mission Statement
The mission of the Archives and Special Collections is to identify, acquire, organize, preserve and make available materials pertaining to the history, culture, and people of the Caribou area and outline communities in Aroostook County and portions of the State
of Maine that support our documents. These materials are available to genealogist, historians, scholars, students, and the general public. The library holds these materials in trust for future generations.

Uses of the Archives & Special Collections
Research and reference services: The Archives and Special Collections supports genealogists, scholars, historians, students of all ages, the visitors to the region who are interested in local history or family genealogy and must be accompanied by an archivist
or archival volunteer at all times.

Aroostook County Genealogical Society Research Center: The Caribou Public Library is the permanent repository of the Aroostook County Genealogical Society Research Center. Although ACGS is a separate agency from the Caribou Public Library, both organizations share their genealogy resources to their users. As a specialized field, all inquiries for genealogical research will be provided by ACGS. The Archivist provides research services pertaining to Caribou history, its surrounding communities in
Aroostook County, and the state of Maine as it relates to our collections. Collaboration are as follows:

1. Exhibits: The Caribou Public Library shall exhibit items from its collections on a rotating basis, and seeks to include items of an exhibitory nature in its collections that also support ACGS.
2. Outreach: The Archives and Special Collections along with ACGS furthers the use and development of its materials and serves the local and regional community through ongoing outreach of various forms, including but not limited to tours, presentations, and workshop, and sponsorship of meetings, seminars, and conferences related to ACGS and the Archives and Special Collection’s mission.
   
3. Publications: The Archives and Special Collection produce public relations brochures and descriptive guides to publicize its existence and information about its and ACGS holdings.
4. Grant writing: Both CPL and ACGS will seek out collaborative grants to provide support for collection assessments, educational programming, facility and environmental control upgrades, housing materials, and staff training.

 
Preservation: The Caribou Public Library Archives and Special Collection recognize that research, exhibition, handling, and storage of its materials must be consistent with sound preservation practices. Furthermore, the Caribou Public Library understand that the acquisition of collections brings with it an institutional commitment to responsible custody into the indefinite future. Preservation is achieved when the repository is able to provide appropriate environmental conditions, protective housing, fire prevention, detection and suppression systems, effective security systems and procedures, a disaster preparedness plan, and staff and users who have been trained to handle and care for the collections appropriately.

Authority of the Archivist
The Archivist reports to the Library Director of the Caribou Public Library.  The Archivist is authorized, on behalf of the Caribou Public Library board of trustees, to solicit, acquire, accession, appraise, arrange, describe, de-accession and make available to our constituents the materials of the Archives and Special Collections. In no case shall anyone remove or destroy records from the Archives without the prior permission of the Archivist or Library Director, if the archivist is not present. The Archivist shall have the right of reasonable access to and examination of all archival records.

Collecting/Appraisal Policy
The objective of our collections is to act as a preserving repository of historic documentation especially emanating from Caribou, Maine and the surrounding communities of Aroostook County, and any selection of archival personal papers or records documenting the history of Maine that support our materials. Records evaluated as archives for long-term preservation and reference includes Caribou area people or family, their cultures, places, institutions, and businesses in record formats including manuscripts, photographs, and functional/official records. Published works, will be collected as they are appraised to be instrumental in the study of the subjects in the same order as those of the Archives.

1. Primary: All materials pertaining to Caribou, Maine.
2. Secondary: Surrounding communities in Aroostook County.
3. Tertiary: other Maine subjects as they relate to our collections.

Access and Reference Policies
First and foremost, the CPL archives and special collections is not a browsing library. The Archives and Special Collections materials are for supervised library use only and do not circulate. The Archives and Special Collections serves as a resource for persons researching the history and culture of the Caribou, Maine, Aroostook County, and portions of the State of Maine that support our own documents. Its primary users are genealogist, scholar, and historians. Secondary users are general public, students and visitors to the region. Specific inquires for genealogical research is referred to ACGS. Arrangement and description of collections will be as complete as resources allow. To the degree that resources are available, the Caribou Public Library will provide information about its Special Collections to regional and/or national databases; this information may include visual as well as textual access.

Hours of the Archives are limited and subject to the availability of staff or archivist.
Monday through Friday 10am-2 pm or by appointment.

Members of ACGS have open access to the archives without supervision as does some of our local historians and scholarly scholarly researchers who have been with the library for many years. For visiting patrons and students, a staff member or archives volunteer must be present.