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W h a t are Archives? A report on General Meeting talk by Reto Tschan by Laura Anderson The West Vancouver Archives acquires, preserves, and provides meaningful access to the records that tell the story of West Vancouver Archives are made up of archives and are kept in Archives. This, agrees West Vancouver's Archivist Reto Tschan, is a definition that can be improved. He did so in an erudite, informative and entertaining talk at the Society's September meeting. Reto's subject was archives: archives generally, the current state of our community archives and his vision of what West Vancouver's archives can become. Archives are never collected. Rather, they accumulate naturally during the routine course of affairs of people and organizations. Archives, therefore, are an aggregation of records and each of those records is an archive. Finally, the word refers to the site where such records can be found. Primarily, West Vancouver's archives hold municipal records documenting the social life, development and experiences of residents, businesses, and organizations of West Vancouver. Some of these records are crammed into the basement of Gertrude Lawson House, where Reto has his office. A great quantity is distributed among various nooks and crannies elsewhere in the municipality. Given the shortage of dedicated space, the archives cannot be maintained according to current standards of preservation. The municipality's facilities plan, a few years into the future, includes space for the Archive's holdings to be collected into one central location, and for additional staff, thereby improving and increasing public access to community records. Reto's goal "is to ensure that the Archives are seen as the natural place for the deposit of records with long term historical value to the District. I also want to ensure that we continue to receive regular transfers of records to the Archives from the public -- individuals, businesses and civic groups." Reto expects to explore opportunities for public participation with the Archives. Volunteerism is one option. Another is the Archives' potential as an educational asset in the community, building upon the schools program operated by the district's Legislative Services department. The talk concluded with Reto's acknowledgement of the financial support provided to the archives by the West Vancouver Historical Society, which has donated over $22,000 from the sales of Cottages to Community since 2012. Reto will continue with the Archives' contribution of articles to Memories -- perhaps beginning with a written version of his introduction to archives so ably presented in September. New Member We have one new member this month. A very special welcome to Jane Faulafer. Encourage others who are interested in West Van's history to join. A membership makes a good Christmas gift as well. page 6