The home of the University of New England (UNE) and Regional Archives, known as the Heritage Centre, has re-opened its doors to the public.
Located in the grounds of the old Teachers College in Armidale, the building closed to the public in early 2022 for a workplace health and safety review. During this time important work has been undertaken on the building to ensure the Centre is fit for purpose to house important regional collections.
The Heritage Centre is operated by UNE, and holds records and artefacts that cover the entire New England, including family history records, regional records, NSW state government records, and a large collection of photographs, maps and other artefacts.
Blanca Pizzani, Director Library Services and University Librarian said UNE is excited to welcome the public back to the Heritage Centre.
“UNE’s vision for the collection is to purpose it as a living archive that is open to the community, the state, and the world,” Ms Pizzani said.
“We are commencing a program of digitising a huge volume of the material we hold in the Heritage Centre. This will make records more easily accessible to the public online, as well as preserve valuable and delicate items,” she said.
Julie McCarthy, Archives and Collections Advisor, said she looks forward to the community as well as UNE students and researchers engaging with the regional archives once again.
“UNE is privileged to be the custodians of this unique collection on behalf of the community and the state,” Ms McCarthy said.
“I welcome the community to visit us at the Centre once again. There is a lot of work to be done and the Heritage Centre team are here to bring it to life for all our communities of users.”
Visitors are welcome to the Centre from Monday-Thursday from 9:30am-1:30pm. You can explore the resources online or you can also book an appointment with a Collections Officer.
To access any material in the collection, please email the Heritage Centre staff in advance so they can assist you and locate the items for you to view.
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