Digitize and preserve different types of media—such as VHS tapes, cassette tapes, film negatives, and more—at the Creative Studio’s Media Preservation Station, located on the third floor of the Main Library. The station features a VCR, cassette player, and high-quality scanner capable of scanning documents, photos, 35mm negatives, 120/medium format negatives, and slides.
Making your reservation
Call 708.383.8200 (press 2) or ask in person at any service desk
- Reserve for up to 3 consecutive hours during Main Library open hours (please note: Creative Studio computers shut down 30 minutes before closing); extensions are not available.
- Scheduling in advance is recommended; reservations can be made up to four weeks in advance.
- Day-of reservations are available if the station is not already reserved.
- Reservations may be released for use by others if you are 15 or more minutes late.
- To change or cancel a reservation, please tell us as soon as possible. Contact us now or call 708.383.8200 (press 2).
Using the station
Do-it-yourself environment
Want additional guidance from staff at this station? Sign up for a one-on-one, 30-minute Learning Lab appointment to learn more about using software available at this station. Please note: In-depth, day-of assistance is not available.
Auxiliary equipment (stored in the equipment cabinet)
While some preservation equipment is available at the station, additional equipment (listed below) is stored in a locked cabinet. To use this equipment, please visit the third-floor service desk. Staff will temporarily hold onto a library card or ID while equipment is in use.
- Cassette player
- Film negative and slide scanning attachments
- Floppy disk reader
- MiniDV digitization toolbox (for use only at the Media Editing Station)
Planning ahead
- BEFORE:
- Bring your own external hard drive to save and take edited files with you at the end of your session. Need to borrow a hard drive? Check out a hard drive—with 2 TB of space—with your Oak Park library card »
- If you’d like to use the cassette player, please visit the service desk with your library card or ID, which will be held temporarily while you use the cassette player.
- DURING:
- We recommend holding negatives carefully on the edges and using cotton or non-latex gloves when possible.
- Media files are big! Plan to use 30 minutes at the end of your session to save files to your external hard drive.
- AFTER: For everyone’s privacy, all files are removed from library computers at the end of each session.
