'Presto Press' editions to be sold at Mattapoisett Library

Own a piece of local history. Original issues of the weekly “The Presto Press,” dating from 1954 to 1991 will be available for purchase at the Mattapoisett Library on Sunday, Sept. 27 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

The library and the Mattapoisett Historical Society partnered to digitize the available issues of “The Presto Press” collection, donated to the library by the Hartley family, heirs of Donald and Joan Jason who published paper. The issues available for sale are duplicates of the complete set being housed at the Mattapoisett Library.

A tutorial on how to search the digitized versions will run at the same time as the sale. Library staff will demonstrate how to conduct a search of content, including news, press releases, photo captions and ad content.

The digitization project was undertaken by the Digital Commonwealth at the Boston Public Library, with funds awarded by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners made available from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services, so there was no cost to the town.

The Digital Commonwealth is a nonprofit collaborative organization that provides resources and services to support the creation, management and dissemination of cultural heritage materials held by Massachusetts libraries, museums, historical societies and archives. The Digital Commonwealth currently has more than 130 member institutions from across the state, of which the Mattapoisett Library is one.

The website provides access to thousands of images, documents and sound recordings that have been digitized by member institutions so that they may be available to researchers, students and the general public.