The goal of the Central New York Library Resources Council has always been to help libraries preserve the past while making it easier to access in the present. That vision recently came to life at Utica University, where a long-standing collection of yearbooks was transformed into a fully digital resource.
The new Online UC Yearbook Archive can be accessed at https://utica.libguides.com/collegearchives.
For years, Utica University’s Frank E. Gannett Library carefully stored shelves of printed yearbooks dating back decades. Anyone interested in them had to visit in person, flip through fragile pages or request photocopies—often a slow and delicate process. These books held memories of campus life, student achievements, and institutional history, but access was limited.
That began to change in 2024, when Utica University Coordinator of Reference Services and Archivist Janis Winn submitted a grant proposal to the Central New York Library Resources Council. The idea was to take the entire yearbook collection and bring it online. In 2025, the grant was awarded, setting the project in motion, said Winn, also a Reference Librarian III.
With funding secured, the library sent its collection – spanning from 1950 to 2017 – to a professional digitization company. Each page was carefully scanned, organized, and converted into a searchable digital format. Alongside the traditional yearbooks, related publications like Annales, The Pioneer and Legacy were also included, ensuring a more complete record of campus history.
Once the project was finished, what once required a physical visit and careful handling could now be accessed instantly from anywhere. Students, alumni and researchers can browse decades of memories directly through the library’s website with just a few clicks and people can “find their own or their family members’ and friends’ yearbook entries from years past, and even download and share the content from the yearbook,” Winn said.
“I hope that discovering the yearbooks online will be a fond nostalgic experience for alumni, and will remind them of their connections to Utica College as it was when they attended, and strengthen their connection to Utica University today,” Winn said.
