The Colorado
Mountain History Collection, of which the Photo Collection is a part, was
founded in 1975 by the Lake County Public Library and members of the Lake
County Civic Center Association interested in preserving the rich
documents of Leadville history and the historic legacy of the
surrounding Colorado mountain country.
Originally persons associated
with the Civic Center (LCCCA) established and developed the Photo
Collection, providing cataloging, and supplying prints to patrons at a
nominal charge. In 1985 it became necessary to place the collection
under the supervision of the Lake County Public Library where researchers
and interested individuals could benefit from regular access to the
collection during library hours as well as assistance from Library staff
in using the catalog.
The
Photo Collection is actually a collection of photographic negatives;
in most cases neither the Library nor the Civic Center possess the
original photos. Many of the negatives in our collection were
produced from original photos which were returned to their owners after
negatives had been generated.
Each negative has been assigned a consecutive number beginning with Number
1. A list of negatives arranged numerically with a brief description
of each is available at the Library, along with an alphabetic catalog
which groups each negatives' number under a series of broad subject
headings. As of 1986 the Photo Collection contained over 2,500
negatives. The first 1,865 photos may be viewed on two reels of
microfilm at the Library; photos with numbers above number 1,865 can be
examined using a collection of work-prints filed in envelopes at the
Library.
The Library
desires to make its Photo Collection as widely available as
possible. Yet the cost of producing new negatives, maintaining the
catalog, and producing work-prints and copies for patrons is
considerable. Except for paid library staff time and overhead, no
public tax revenues have been earmarked to maintain this collection.
The library must pay a professional photo lab current charges each time it
its necessary to create a new negative or produce a print. In
addition to these charges, the Colorado Mountain History Collection
collects a small amount in each order which is used to defray the cost of
producing new negatives. At current rates, we must sell two prints
for each new negative we add to the collection.
The only additional sources of funding we receive toward maintaining and
developing the photo collection are occasional grants, gifts, and the
amounts we charge when any of our photographs are used in books,
magazines, advertising material, or for public display.
After considerable study of photographic fee schedules of other libraries,
museums, and historical societies (especially those of the Colorado
Historical Society and the Denver Public Library, both of which also
maintain substantial collections of Colorado photographs) we have devised
a fee schedule for the Colorado Mountain History Collection.
