December 10, 2025
Do you have family photos, historical documents, or slides from that family vacation that you would like to digitize? How about those home movies on 8mm films, VHS tapes, or that recording of Grandpa telling his stories on audio cassette? Have you thought about sending them to a digitizing service but don’t want to pay the fees or are wary of sending your precious memories through the mail? Then come try our free Memory Lab!
The Memory Lab is a do-it-yourself space providing equipment and technology that enables our customers to digitize and preserve their memories and stories. There are two stations that can be reserved in three-hour timeslots. The digital files created can be saved to a flash drive (which can be purchased at our front desk if you do not have one), an external hard drive, or a cloud drive.
Our Scanning Station has technology to help our customers digitize:
- Photos (up to 11”x17”)
- Documents
- Photo Negatives
- Slides
- 3.5” Floppy Disks
Our Audiovisual Station has the capability to digitize:
- VHS/VHS-C tapes
- Audio Cassettes
- 8mm/Super 8 film reels
We are exploring options to expand our digitization offerings to include items like CDs, DVDs, and camcorder tapes but we do not have that capability yet.
The stations are free and open for anyone to use, and you do not need a library card. It is strongly suggested that you make an appointment online to ensure that the station is available for your use. We do take walk-ins but only if that station is not already reserved or in-use. We provide step-by-step instructions, and our staff are available to get you started and to troubleshoot, if needed. Remember that the digitization process takes time and, depending on the format, can take more time than you might think. But don’t let that stop you! The experience can be so rewarding!
For more information and to book an appointment, head to our website at https://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy/about-mgc/memory-lab.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Jennifer C.
Midwest Genealogy Center
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