*This post is part of Free for All’s “Making Magic” series, which will focus on Kelley’s exploration of the opportunities in the library’s Creativity Lab as well as musings about art, creativity and imagination.

A little less than a year ago, I moved. Moving means that you have to systematically go through everything you own- and I mean EVERYTHING- to determine if each item is worth packing and paying movers to haul to your new house for you. The process becomes one of lightening your load, both physically and mentally, but also one of discovery.

Amongst the piles of clothes no longer worn, board games rarely played, and sheets too worn out to keep, I was lucky enough to find the collection of letters that my nana sent to me when I was in college. Written in firmly-pressed pencil and the distinguished slant of a left-handed person forced to learn right-handed techniques, the letters immediately brought back the voice of a much-loved woman who has been gone for 20 years. The first thing I did was read them all multiple times while happy-crying into an old scarf that didn’t make the moving cut. The second thing I did was think about a way to preserve them, so that when the paper and pencil no longer hold together, I can still experience these written conversations with my nana.

Thanks to the wonders of Adobe Creative Suite’s Photoshop software, which is available on every laptop in the library’s Creativity Lab, I was able to do just that. Using a scanner, and my knowledge of Photoshop’s image editing capabilities, I was able to create high quality images of each letter and envelope. Those images are now saved in two locations, nicely digitally preserved for future reading. In addition, I was able to upload those images to the Mixbook website and turn them into a gift book for, if I do say so myself, one of the best Mothers’ Day gift ideas ever.

If you too have some letters, photographs and other memories that you would like to digitally preserve, the library can help! As I mentioned, the necessary software is available in the Creativity Lab and, if you don’t know how to use Photoshop already, we have classes that will teach you what you need to know. Our first “Perfecting the Past: Photoshopping Memories” class is in progress right now, but we have another one coming up in the spring and details will be available on the library’s online events calendar soon.

In the meantime, start cleaning out those closets! You may find yourself pleasantly surprised by what turns up.