News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Clay County High School is preserving its history by creating a digital collection of yearbooks dating back to 1934.
Librarian Heather Burnette said the search for the books started with Vice Principal Daniel Strong a few years ago.
“He did that over the past couple years probably,” Burnette said. “Between the high school and the public library, he came up with most of them. So we just decided we were going to try and scan those and have digital copies made so other people could look at those.”
The collection is still not complete though with the years 1943 and 1944 missing. Burnette said the school system is asking any residents to reach out if you posses these editions.
“There were a few that we didn’t have,” Burnette said. “So, we put that out on Facebook, and we found most of them. We just wanted to be able to protect them in case anything ever happens to them that way we would have a copy of them.”
Burnette said the plan is to have the pictures available through the school’s website, but the process is a long one. Burnette said about 20 yearbooks have been scanned so far.
“You’re talking about 1934 to 2020,” Burnette said. “We are talking about 84 yearbooks. It is going to be a slow process, but I am working on it. It takes a little bit. We bought some new equipment. The Clay County Genealogical Society made a donation to the high school in $500, and we were able to buy book scanner and that has helped a lot.”
Burnette said she has faced a slight delay with the new year books creating a glare on digital scans. Burnette said the high school is looking to use a different scanner to complete the project.
Burnette said viewers will be able to download the pictures for personal use, as well. There are no yearbooks from the years 1919 to 1933.
