HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2011-07-01 WAGE Radio grant
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Thomas Balch Library Receives Grant To Preserve & Digitize
WAGE Radio Collection
Leesburg, VA (July 1, 2011) – The Thomas Balch Library recently received a grant of $5,000
from the Loudoun Preservation Society to preserve and digitize the library’s collection of audio
tapes and memorabilia from WAGE Radio.
The Library was one of nine organizations to receive awards of grant funding from the Loudoun
Preservation Society at their 2011 annual meeting. The $5,000 grant to the Thomas Balch
Library was the first award of the newly created Catherine Boyd Grant, created in honor of the
founder of the Loudoun Restoration & Preservation Society.
WAGE Radio operated in Leesburg from 1958 until 2009, covering local news and sports as well
as offering a variety of music formats over the years. The Thomas Balch Library’s WAGE Radio
collection includes 506 reel-to-reel tapes documenting the life and culture of Loudoun County
and its place on the global map. Preservation, digitization and processing of the entire
collection will cost over $55,000, so the Library has divided the project into several phases.
The grant funding from the Loudoun Preservation Society will be used for phase one of the
project, the preservation and digitization of the earliest 136 audio tapes. Total cost for this
phase is estimated at $11,760. The remaining $6,760 will be provided by a grant from the
INOVA Loudoun Laurels Oral History Program. Digital preservation of the tapes will be
completed by Archive Sound Labs in Bethesda, Maryland.
Phase two of the WAGE Radio Collection project, the preservation of the memorabilia, will be
completed in-house by Thomas Balch Library staff and volunteers. The Friends of the Thomas
Balch Library have donated $500 to cover the cost of supplies needed for phase two of the
project.
“The Library is honored to have been selected to receive the first Catherine Boyd Grant award,”
commented Alexandra Gressitt, director of the Thomas Balch Library. “We are delighted to
have the opportunity to start the preservation of this collection of significant historic audio
tapes.”
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TOL PR 2011-07-01 WAGE Radio grant
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The Thomas Balch Library is seeking additional grant funds or donations to complete the
digitization of the remaining 370 reel-to-reel tapes.
About the Thomas Balch Library: The Thomas Balch Library is a genealogy and local history
library owned and operated by the Town of Leesburg. A designated Underground Railroad
research site, the Library’s collections focus on Loudoun County, regional and Virginia history,
genealogy, military history with special emphasis on the American Civil War, and ethnic history.
Contact:
Alexandra S. Gressitt
Library Director
agressitt@leesburgva.gov
703-737-7196
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