Creating a Local History Archive at Your Public Library. By Faye Phillips. Chicago: ALA, 2018. 176 pages. Paper $57.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1566-0).

Faye Phillips, a well-known consultant and author of the 1995 manual Local History Collections in Libraries (Libraries Unlimited), coalesces her expertise into this readable primer on starting an archive in a public library. This text represents a welcome addition to the growing number of books and articles focused on archives in public libraries published since 2010, when the Public Library Archives/Special Collections Section of the Society of American Archivists was formed.

After a brief introduction to the field of archives, the book begins with a thorough discussion of policy matters associated with starting an archive, such as writing a mission statement and managing budgets and staffing. She notes that public librarians should develop policies and procedures before launching into the work of organizing and describing archival materials.

The book is anchored by two hypothetical public libraries, Everytown and Neighbor Village, which Phillips uses to illustrate how different libraries approach archival management. In addition, Phillips weaves real-world examples into the text, especially from her hometown public library in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Beyond these examples, the text is full of additional resources and recommended websites that readers can use to deepen their understanding of topics discussed only in passing in the text, such as digital preservation.

The heart of the book is chapter 3, “Acquiring and Making Local History Collections Accessible.” Here, Phillips walks readers through the steps that a public librarian should take when dealing with archival materials. She takes care to introduce terminology in a user-friendly way, as in her discussion of archival appraisal: “archival appraisal is the review of the materials based on the local history archive’s collection development criteria” (41). Readers will find the steps outlined by Phillips easy to follow, especially if they work with paper records.

One shortcoming of this book is its focus on traditional, paper-based records, particularly in chapter 3. Although Phillips notes that archival materials can come in any form, including “drawings, audiovisual items, oral histories, machine-readable records [i.e., digital records], and artifacts” (6), her instructions center on paper records. Indeed, she seems a bit frustrated by the recent focus on digital matters in archives, noting that “although digitized and born-digital materials are increasingly at the center of archival concerns, local history archives . . . continue to accession paper collections” (121).

A public librarian interested in more technology-focused archival work, such as that done by the Denver Public Library Archives, will need to supplement this book with other resources, such as those listed on the SAA-PLASC website (https://www2.archivists.org/groups/public-library-archivesspecial-collections-section/resource-list) or Diantha Dow Schull’s Archives Alive: Expand Engagement with Public Library Archives and Special Collections (ALA, 2015). Despite this drawback, however, Phillips has organized a quite useful primer. Any public librarian thinking about starting a local history archive would benefit from reading this book.—Noah Lenstra, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina