OLYMPIA — The Office of the Secretary of State, which oversees the Washington State Library and the Washington State Archives, announces that 33 local libraries and government agencies will share $600,000 in grants under state programs to improve local resources.
The Library’s Washington Digital Heritage grant awards are in their 16th year of funding projects that promote the creation and sharing of content documenting state history. This year’s record award of more than $150,000 will benefit 13 recipients, from small rural to large academic libraries, for projects including digitizing records, photographs, and recordings; recording oral history interviews; organizing digital collections; and creating digital exhibits.
Information about these projects is available through the Washington State Library’s program website. The Washington Digital Heritage Grants are funded by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The State Archives’ Local Records Grant Program will distribute $447,522 to 20 local government agencies in the state for 2023-24. This program helps local government agencies upgrade their technological resources for records management and retention, and better respond to public-records requests. Since its inception in 2005, the program has awarded more than $4 million to hundreds of agencies including cities, towns, and counties; fire, school, hospital, port, and public-utility districts; transit authorities; and more. Awards are based on recommendations from the Archives Advisory Committee, which is made up of county auditors, county clerks, and representatives from other sectors of local government.
“It is an honor to oversee programs that help so many worthy recipients do the vital work of preserving and documenting our shared history,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said. “Local libraries and government agencies often have extremely limited resources. These longstanding programs are an excellent way for the state to help get important jobs done.”
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, oversees the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.