You’ve probably heard of time capsules, those collections of memorabilia—letters, photos, coins, newspapers, etc.—that document a place, an organization, an event, or a family. These everyday artifacts are sealed off, buried, and set aside for later generations to open. According to history.com, tens of thousands of these are scattered around the world since the practice first caught on in the 19th and 20th centuries. The objective of time capsules is to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians discover a little bit about the people of the time.
Well, time capsules have moved into the digital age. And many libraries are taking the lead in bringing their communities together to build digital community albums and time capsules with audio, video, and image files. One of those libraries is my library, the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA.