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The Carnegie Library archive collects, preserves, and provides valuable historical resources, intended to be protected in perpetuity about the history of Boulder County with an emphasis on the city of Boulder. Their care and preservation for the use of present and future generations is the principal responsibility of the Carnegie Library for Local History.   The collections focus on original and secondary physical and digital materials about the people, real estate, events, and businesses in Boulder’s history. The collections are in several formats including: documents, photographs, maps, microforms, oral history interviews, single-topic, dated newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, ephemera, books, pamphlets, architectural drawings, periodicals and digital files.    Professional archivists are delegated by the Library Director the discretion to assess and select historically significant materials for the archive’s holdings. Materials that have local, regional, and enduring value and represent the social, political, cultural, and economic history of the city and county of Boulder are given primary consideration and include historical records of the following:   
  • Area businesses  
  • Community and civic organizations  
  • Religious institutions  
  • Public or private groups which have influenced Boulder's development, or have had a significant impact on the city and county of Boulder 
  • Individuals and families who reflect a unique aspect of Boulder history and culture or who have impacted the development of the Boulder community.  
     Maintenance 
    • Decisions concerning the removal of materials from the archive are made by professional archivists and are based on the following criteria: Materials do not meet the archive collection policy selection criteria 
    • Storage capacity of the archive 
    • Pattern of use 
    • Materials are damaged or deteriorated to a degree to be unusable and/or a threat to other items in the archive 
    • Subject cannot be placed in any identifiable historical context or are determined to have minimal research value
    • Materials are duplicated in another collection or are held by another public institution. 
      Request for Reconsideration 
      The Boulder Public Library’s process for requests for reconsideration applies to archival materials.  

      Approved by the Library Commission on November  2 , 2022.