Each year, the first full week of April is designated as Archives Awareness Week in Ontario, and 2015 is no exception. Events are planned throughout the week of April 7 to 11 to celebrate our archival repositories and rich archival collections.
The Archives of Ontario will be offering free give-aways to new and long-term customers all week long, and will be hosting a full day of special activities on Thursday April 9th, including: an Ask-a-Conservator booth, where you can get free advice on storing and handling your family treasures; a behind-the-scenes tour of the Archives; and presentations on collection development, digitization initiatives and archival resources and services. Among the other organizations taking part in the Thursday activities are the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections of York University Libraries, the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, and the Archives Association of Ontario. In the evening, visitors will be able to take in a “film night” at the City of Toronto Archives* – a chance to view rarely-seen archival film footage from the collections of various Toronto archives. For further details, visit the Archives of Ontario website.
Archives staff will cap off Archives Awareness Week by participating in our own Toronto Branch workshop on Finding Your Upper Canada Ancestors at North York Central Library on Saturday April 11th. If you haven’t yet signed up for this workshop, don’t delay – the early bird discount deadline is March 14th. Visit our workshop page to find out more about the program, speakers, and how to register.
*Please note: This is a new venue for the “film night”, which was originally scheduled to be held at York University’s Sound and Moving Image Library.