Kirkendall Library’s media tools can give old photographs and tapes another life

Image: AI-generated illustrative photograph of generic media-conversion equipment; not Kirkendall Library’s machines or actual family materials.

A family recording can be valuable even when the machine needed to play it has disappeared from the house. Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library’s makerspace includes tools for scanning photographs and converting several older audio and video formats into digital files.

The makerspace is on the library’s second level at 1250 Southwest District Drive. Listed services include photographs, negatives and slides, record albums and cassettes, plus VHS and certain film formats. Contact staff about compatibility and training before bringing an irreplaceable item; a format category does not guarantee that every recording can be handled.

The library strongly encourages equipment training and says staff assistance is not always available. Users supply their own materials and storage, with some storage media available to purchase. Conversion can take the recording’s full running time, and station use is generally limited to two hours per day unless staff extend it.

Start with one item and keep its context alongside the file: who appears, when it was recorded and how you know. Check the result before working through a larger box, and preserve the original. A carefully described recording can be more useful to the next generation than a folder of files whose stories have been lost.

Sources and visit details

• City of Ankeny: Kirkendall Library makerspace formats, training, supplies and time limits