Archives and local history centres
Kent Archives closed pending move to new Centre
The Centre for Kentish Studies (CKS) and the East Kent
Archive Centre (EKAC) are now closed to allow staff to prepare for
the physical move of the collections to the new Kent History and Library Centre
in the New Year.
Our customers can access information on Kent’s rich
and fascinating history in the following ways:
- the majority of microfilmed records from CKS and EKAC will be
available at
Maidstone library and
Dover library from Tuesday 15th November
- our online
catalogue of almost 600,000 records and 6,000 images
containing extensive information on KCC’s archive
holdings
- the 12 local history collections in district libraries across
Kent containing a wealth of information on local and family
history. For details of items held in Kent libraries' local history
collections consult the online library
catalogue.
- Canterbury Cathedral Archives will
remain open until 31st January 2012
- free online access to Ancestry.com in all Kent libraries
containing information on censuses since 1841, on wills, etc
- the archive of the main set of county council minutes going
back to the first meeting in 1889 is now available to look at on
KCC's
website (search by 'individual committee). This
is a significant achievement with over 45,000 pages digitised and
made accessible in partnership with our colleagues in Democratic
Services
- the shop at the Centre for Kentish Studies remains open and has
a sale of 20% off all stock excluding corporate gifts, cards and
stamps. The shop is now also available online.
The new building will
focus on widening access to the fantastic historic collections held
by the county council and on engaging people and communities with
using these collections. Our plans are outlined in a new service
development plan for 2011-2015 'Understanding Our Past, Changing Our
Future’.
We apologise for any inconvenience the closures may cause but
hope you’ll agree with us that this is a very exciting time for
Kent’s history.
