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OCTOBER 6, 2009
Memories and Miracles
 Eleven years ago, the Library began a project called Shades of Monterey, which started out as a State-wide project funded in 1998 by the California State Library, and has continued thereafter in Monterey with local funding. The idea is to collect images of day-to-day life in a community from the family albums of local residents, and add them to historic photo archives. Each Shades of Monterey project included an exhibit component where selected images were enlarged, framed, and displayed in community settings. Dozens of the framed photos enlargements from the Shades of Monterey exhibits remain on display throughout the Library and a few in the Monterey Conference Center where they are enjoyed by visitors and residents alike. This past week we received an extraordinary note in our suggestion box from a 78 year old woman who had donated a photograph of her mother to the Shades of Monterey project several years ago. Recently she was visiting the Library, and was having a blue day, feeling lonely, and missing her many loved ones who are no longer living. Feeling teary, she ventured into a niche in the Library to be alone, and found herself face- to -face with a large photograph of her mother! She said, “At first I thought I was dreaming. I had my mother to comfort me!” She described it as “a miracle.” This is just one of the many reasons why the Library continues to collect, preserve, and exhibit photos depicting daily life in Monterey over the years. It is the one of the ways that we help preserve community memory, honor those who came before us, and validate the idea that every individual plays a role in the development of local history and contributes to our community’s unique identity. When this results in remembrance, delight, a stronger sense of community, or in this case a small miracle, then our efforts in this regard have been successful beyond measure.
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