Last year I went to the United States to visit some distant relatives in Louisiana. My mom's side of the family is French and they settled down in the small town of New Iberia about 150 years ago. On the plane ride over my mind was filled with the funny stereotypical Cajun speaking broken French/English with a t-shirt tan and few missing and gold teeth. What greeted me as anything but that. I found culture, family, success, and community... all the things that have been missing from my life.

I was able to pour through generations of photo albums while my grandmother told the family stories of old. I laughed, cried, was amazed at stories of bravery and ashamed of the stories of cowardice. I lived my ancestors' lives in Louisiana. It was such a wonderful experience. There was one feeling, or more of an urge that consumed me during my visit, the possibility of loosing all of this history. Grandma kept the photos in shoe boxes, purses, cabinets, pretty much anywhere you could set a photo she had place them there. Upon realizing what could potentially be lost, I became obsessed with learning about archive storage.

Some people say it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Nonsense! I had fallen in love with my history and I wasn't about to loose it. I did a quick online search to see which archive storage solution would be the best. Surprise at what I found is an understatement. There are so many options that I was overwhelmed. I didn't know where to begin, I had no budget (the photos are priceless), I didn't want something too large like a pirate's treasure chest, and it had to be water/moisture proof. After some fretting, a brilliant idea (if I can be judge) occurred to me. "Who knows better about archive storage than the librarian?"

It was just a relatively quick trip down Jane Street to the parish library. As I approached I was awed by the structure. It was such a beautiful Victorian building with weeping willows that must have been centuries old. I'm sure they had some good stories to tell. As I walked in an older gentlemen greeted me. He puts you in the mind of Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken. After much trying I was able to push that silly thought from my head, but he must have been wondering why I had that peculiar grin on my face. Several moments passed before I was able to tell him about my dilemma and inquire about archive storage.

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