TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Wildcats Memory Lab at the University of Arizona is a free, do-it-yourself digitization and preservation resource where people can bring VHS tapes, photo albums and more to create digital copies they can keep for years.
"We have seen very steady interest in the lab—people want access to the equipment," Amy Ellsworth, community outreach coordinator for the Wildcats Memory Lab, said.
Since opening in 2025, the lab has served more than 500 users and logged over 6,500 hours of reserved lab time.
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The lab is now expanding its reach after being awarded a 2026 Library Services and Technology Act grant for $80,872 grant from the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.
"My supervisor, Stacy Jones, the Associate Librarian and Digital Preservation Unit Lead, applied for grant funding to launch the lab and to purchase equipment and to hire interns, which was me, to help get started—and then it immediately took off," Ellsworth said.
"When we launched, we had hundreds of people signing up. So, we knew pretty quickly that we'd want to apply for a second round so that we could have the staff support to not just maintain the space, but to really be there to help educate people on digital preservation. So, Stacy applied for another round of grant funding to pay for equipment and for the staffing, and then we just applied and were awarded our third round of funding to take it one step farther and to expand our outreach and education," she said.
The funding will allow staff to build a mobile memory lab kit, bringing equipment and preservation education directly to communities that may not be able to make the trip to campus.
"We have discovered in running this lab that there is more demand than this small space can meet. So, we are excited to be able to take it mobile," Ellsworth said.
Whether it's a song on a vinyl record or family home videos, the lab gives people tools to preserve those memories at no cost.
"You can come to learn about how to preserve those things and then to digitize, meaning to create digital copies of those things for safe storage, for easier sharing with your family and friends," Ellsworth said.
The Wildcats Memory Lab is free and located at the University of Arizona's main library. It is open to the public by appointment.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
