In North Bend, local leaders are working to preserve decades of community history before it disappears.
Gary Sharp, president of the North Bend Library Foundation, is leading a fundraising campaign to digitize more than 80 years of local newspapers through the North Bend Digital Newspapers Project.
The project focuses on two publications: The Coos Bay Harbor, published from 1905 to 1950, and The North Bend News, published from 1951 to 1986. Most of those archives currently exist only as paper copies or on microfilm, both of which are deteriorating.
“Microfilm doesn’t last forever, and the paper copies are actually much more fragile than the microfilm,” Sharp said.
Sharp said the project would complete a major regional preservation effort.
“These two papers that we’re working to digitize are the last two papers in Coos County that need preserving online,” he said.
The foundation is partnering with the University of Oregon's Historic Oregon Newspapers program to make the archives searchable and freely available online.
The project has already raised about $14,000 of its $32,000 goal, enough to begin digitizing the Coos Bay Harbor by October. The foundation is now working to raise the remaining $18,000 needed to digitize the North Bend News.
Residents can support the project by donating to the North Bend Public Library Foundation through the city’s website or by mail.
Sharp said the community response has been “extremely gratifying.”
“Newspapers, of course, are very important records of a community's life,” Sharp said. “They capture stories that may not appear in official records.”
Organizers expect the full archive to be available online by late 2027.
Guest
- Gary Sharp, president, North Bend Library Foundation
