WLA/Highsmith Award, “La Crosse History Unbound”
Kelly Krieg-Sigman, Director, La Crosse Public Library, and Anita Evans, Director, Murphy Library, UW-La Crosse

(Pictured here, from left to right, standing: Paul Beck and William Doering, Murphy Library, UW-La Crosse; seated: Kathy Kabat and Anita Taylor-Doering, La Crosse Public Library. Not pictured is Peg Zappen, retired from La Crosse Public Library.)

Working jointly, La Crosse’s two major libraries have created a digital archive of La Crosse area history called, “La Crosse History Unbound”. This collaboration allowed development of a valuable local resource that neither institution could have produced independently.

The joint content of this database is varied and extensive. For example, the Public Library has digitized historic city directories, many local and state government documents related to the city and newspaper articles from the La Crosse Tribune. Besides providing access to the pictorial and general histories of La Crosse and locales within the county, Murphy Library has also prepared and presented masters’ theses and seminar papers related to La Crosse. The Murphy Library staff has also tackled some very difficult material to present on the web, such as an early parade film originally mastered on dangerous nitrate film. This creative and innovative project allows access to historical La Crosse materials making them available to home and remote users and creating a local history portal available 24/7. (News Release Oct. 5, 2005)