Millis Public Library Wins $15,000 Heritage Trust Grand Prize

The Millis Public Library is pleased to announce that it has been awarded the $15,000 Heritage Trust Grand Prize from Dell, Inc.. This funding will allow the Millis Public Library to preserve and provide access to the Millis Town Collection – yearbooks dating back to the 1950s, town reports dating back to the 1800s, documents dating back to the 1700s, and thousands of photographs that together tell Millis' unique story. Founded in 2007 by EMC Corporation, which was acquired by Dell Technologies in September 2016, the Heritage Trust program enables organizations around the world to preserve and provide access to their local cultural information through digitization.
“We’re thrilled that we’re going to be able to save the Millis Town Collection,” says Alex Lent, Director of the Millis Public Library. “And we’re hugely grateful, not only to Dell, but also to the people of Millis and everyone who voted for our project.” In July, Millis Public Library learned that it was the only library in the United States to make it to the final round of the competition – public voting. Millis residents rallied to the cause, sharing the Library’s appeal for votes far and wide. EveryLibrary, a library Political Action Committee, helped spread the word, as did the Boston Public Library.
“Dell’s business strategy is guided by the idea that technology should support positive growth and change the world for the better,” said Jeremy Ford, Director of Giving, Dell Inc.. “The Heritage Trust program allows organizations from across the globe more access to local cultural information through digital technology. We are excited to see Millis Public Library use these funds to provide the community more insight to the history and culture of the town.”
Approximately $2,000 of the funding will be used to purchase digitization equipment – a special archival scanner and digital storage devices. The remaining majority of the Trust will fund a part-time technician to operate the scanner. After the Library fully scans the Millis Town Collection, it will be able to scan the collections of other local organizations interested in digitizing their collections.
The Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo and the Museo Dolores Olmedo, both of Mexico, won the second place $10,000 prize and third place $5,000 prize, respectively.