Photos fade, memories may too, but in the digital age we live in, preserving the past for posterity can be easier than ever.
At the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Library, it also comes at no cost.
The branch has what is called the Memory Lab, which houses every tool needed to convert age-old photos and documents into digital files. It is available to the public for free after they take a one-hour course to learn how to use the equipment.
79-year-old Dr. David Wolf has spent the last several months in the Memory Lab, working on a project for his three children.
He's preserving his past for their future.
“When I’m gone, I don’t think they’re going to hold on to all these albums and everything, but if it’s on a flash drive, they’ll put it into a computer and be able to easily see it,” Dr. Wolf said.
He initially wanted to digitize 30 carousels of 100 color slides each, stacked in boxes in his basement.
He has also digitized his mother’s photo albums from the 1930s, his father’s 8mm home movies from the 1940s and 1950s, and photos recording his military service during the Vietnam War.
Along with the photos and films, he has also digitized documents from his family’s history — handwritten letters, birth certificates and Bar mitzvah invitations.
“And it’s not that hard to do, it is time-consuming, but being retired, I have all the time in the world,” Dr. Wolf laughed.
