WARREN — The Trumbull County Historical Society will receive nearly $250,000 over three years to digitize some of the larger items in its archives.

The federal grant comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Museums for America program. TCHS will receive $247,100 over the three-year grant period. Other Ohio institutions receiving funding include the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Taft Museum of Art, the Ohio History Connection and the Cincinnati Museum Center.

According to TCHS Director Meghan Reed, “These funds will allow us to purchase the only publicly accessible, large-format flatbed scanner between us and Cleveland. We are over the moon to have received this award.”

Before this grant, TCHS wasn’t able to scan anything in the archives that is larger than 11-inches by 17-inches. The new scanner, which will be purchased in 2023 and costs about $50,000, will be used to digitize more than 2,000 oversized archives, including maps, blueprints and photographs dating from the early 1800s to the present.

“The other exciting thing about this grant is it allows us to offer that scanner and make it available to 28 other small, rural museums and historical societies throughout Trumbull County that don’t have the same resources we do,” Reed said. “And we can make it accessible to the public.”

This is the second federal grant TCHS has received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. A $202,634 grant awarded in 2020 funded efforts to catalog and store 20,000 items in its collection, hire a collections conservator to oversee the process and to purchase museum-quality collection storage equipment.

The new grant also will be used to purchase storage cabinets for the oversized archives.

“This round will fund flat files and rolled archival storage,” Reed said.

In its announcement of the grants, IMLS Director Crosby Kemper said, “As pillars of our communities, libraries and museums bring people together by providing important programs, services, and collections. These institutions are trusted spaces where people can learn, explore and grow. IMLS is proud to support their initiatives through our grants as they educate and enhance their communities.”

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums.