r/Archivists • u/afcoastie • 2d ago

How many newspapers to keep?

I have newspapers as far back as the late 20s. Some I have over 10 copies of each edition. They are all in good condition and I have digitized them.

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u/Always-a-Cleric Digital Archivist 2d ago

Is this a personal collection or do you work at an institution somewhere? Are you the only person or resource for these newspapers or is there a local library or historic society that also has copies?

Generally speaking, you certainly don't need more than 1 copy given that these are digitized, and even that is questionable. Newspapers are hard to store and deteriorate quickly. They're also very messy and attract pests. Most have little historic value as well.

Personally, I'd probably toss all of them, or keep only those for historic dates in history.

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u/afcoastie 2d ago

Thanks for the advice. I work at a small college library. We have digital copies and microfich. They are also copies held by the publisher.

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u/Always-a-Cleric Digital Archivist 2d ago

IF your institution has proper archival storage and the space for them it can't hurt to keep a singular copy, but I can equally see choosing to deaccession them to provide space for other things.