The Scott County Library System received a 2 year federal grant in 2019 to collect and preserve Scott County history. SCLS was one of 30 libraries in the country to win an inaugural Accelerating Promising Practices grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Scott County Community Memory Project (SCCMP) digitized close to 1,000 items and collected more than 30 oral histories. Every town in rural Scott County is represented in some way, and there is something from every decade from the 1850s to today.

The Scott County Community Memory Project Digital Collection is hosted on the Internet Archive and contains items from many Scott County towns, families, and organizations.

Another product of the grant is the Generation to Generation project. The goals of Generation to Generation are to help different generations connect and to help kids and teens delve into family history.  Our Story: A Grandparent Book allows grandparents to share their stories with grandkids of any age. Our Genealogy Guide for Kids helps kids of all ages get started with oral histories, family trees, journaling, and more. These resources are free to download and use for non-commercial purposes.

Grant work continued weekly under project manager Nancy Youngbauer until May 2022; funded by IMLS grant #LG-27- 19-0224- 19, an ALA Libraries Transforming Communities grant, RDA, and the Friends of the Eldridge library.

Please direct questions about the project to 563-285-4794.

The Scott County Community Memory Project Copyright Policy:

The Scott County Community Memory Project Digital Collection exists to preserve and provide access to rural Scott County history. The project was funded by an IMLS grant to the Scott County Library System from 2019-2021. We make these materials available in order to facilitate their use for non-commercial and educational purposes, and to advance the mission of the Scott County Library System.

We make every effort to provide factual information about copyright ownership where possible. When rights information is available, we include it in the “Rights” field of the metadata record for an item.  Due to the nature of historical collections, it may not be possible to fully determine the copyright ownership of a particular item. Any copyright owners who are not properly identified on this website should contact the Scott County Library System so that we can make any necessary corrections. Upon request, we will remove material from our online collections while we review a copyright claim.

It is the responsibility of the user to determine and satisfy copyright and other use restrictions when reproducing and using materials from our collections. As a service to other researchers, we request that users credit the Scott County Community Memory Digital Collection as the source.