Friends of the Yolo County Archives

Friends of the Yolo County Archives has been helping the Yolo County Archives achieve its mission to collect, preserve, and make accessible physical and digital documents and materials that support the long-term understanding and retelling of Yolo County’s diverse history for nearly 40 years!

On this Big Day of Giving, we are asking our community to help us achieve another 40 years of preservation and access. Here are some of the activities and projects that the Friends have supported over the years:

• Funded extra help library assistants who have digitized thousands of photographs and documents, which has also provided opportunities and mentorship for individuals interested in the archival profession.

The Archives currently has 1,895 documents and audio-visual files, 814 maps, and 15,354 photographs digitized and available online at https://yc-ais.axiellhosting.com/home.

• Supported paid internship projects through applying for grants and providing stipends.

• Purchased archival supplies to better preserve collections.

In 2025, 61 collections (83 linear feet and 46.6 GB of born-digital materials) were processed, and 5,419 catalog records were added to our online database.

• Coordinated and hosted community presentations by local historians and speakers.

• Funded conference registrations for staff for professional development and for sharing Yolo County Archives projects and initiatives with other colleagues.

• Honored and recognized the contributions of Archives volunteers.

• Tabled, created, and funded informational displays at outreach events and public spaces throughout Yolo County.

Your donation will help support the following Archives priorities:

• Extra help salaries (8-10 hours/week - $10,000-15,000)
• Internship stipends ($3,000 for 10 hours/week for 15 weeks)
• Ongoing database maintenance and tech support costs ($25,000-26,000/year for Axiell database and Piction DAMS)
• Ongoing maintenance and tech support for SMA large-format scanner ($26,000/3-year contract)
• Archival supplies ($2,000 per year)
• Professional development ($300 per year)

Yolo County Supervisor Lucas Frerichs spoke of the "Amazingness of the Yolo County Archives" during a Yolo County Board of Supervisors meeting in October, 2024. And Friends of the Yolo County Archives agrees wholeheartedly!