Endangered Heritage Exhibit at North Judson-Wayne Township Public Library

A popular exhibit is being presented through April 30th at the North Judson-Wayne Township Public Library. It’s called Endangered Heritage and it is being sponsored by the Starke County Historical Society and is on loan from the Indiana Historical Society.

“It’s about preserving things that are close to you and your family,” said Librarian Jane Ellen Felchuk.

She talked about cloth items, such as an old wedding dress or other fabric items.

“Say if you have something in fabric, like an old quilt, it talks about ways to take care of that item so it doesn’t fall apart. There are 12 banners with items that need care in being preserved.”

It’s also important to learn how to preserve old documents or newspaper clippings.

“You have to be very careful with paper,” explained Felchuk. “You’re better transforming it to another format. Paper gets quite brittle and eventually falls to pieces. Right now, the only long-lasting format that is proven to last is microfilm. Digital preservation is a good idea too, but it changes so fast you can lose a ton of stuff with one upgrade.”

We asked about film preservation.

“We’re going to have a gentleman in to talk about film preservation later in the year. He has a collection of older films he has restored.”

The North Judson-Wayne Township Public Library is open Monday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. on Friday and 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.