OUR FAVORITE 2025

Community Collections

As we move into 2026, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the libraries that brought their communities’ stories to life in 2025. Using BiblioBoard’s powerful publishing tools, these libraries curated dynamic digital collections that highlight local voices, preserve regional history, and showcase the creativity of their communities.

From spotlighting emerging authors to capturing the traditions and experiences that shape local culture, these collections demonstrate the many ways libraries continue to expand access to storytelling in the digital age.

Read on to discover some of the standout collections that helped make 2025 a year to remember.

Rebuild Hot Springs
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Rebuild Hot Springs Area

Supported by the Million Memory Project

Through Our Eyes: A Community’s Photographic Memory of Hurricane Helene is a digital archive and full-color photobook that preserves the experience of Hurricane Helene and the recovery that followed. On September 27, 2024, the storm reshaped Hot Springs and Spring Creek, devastating homes, businesses, and the heart of the community.

This project, created by the Million Memory Project, brings together the perspectives of 48 local contributors, each offering their photographs and voices to ensure that this chapter of our history is remembered and preserved for generations. Together, these images and reflections tell a story of loss, resilience, and the enduring strength of community.

“By inviting the community to share their stories, the people who lived this moment were able to tell it in their own words. Forty-eight contributors stepped forward with photographs and memories, capturing the days before the storm, the destruction it left behind, and the long road that led our town back toward reopening. We’re grateful to everyone who shared their voice and to the many neighbors and supporters who helped carry this archive forward.”

-Kevin Reese, Through Our Eyes Producer

Explore the chapters to walk through the journey: waiting, aftermath, helpers, response, rebuild, and the light that carries us forward.

Grey Bruce Youth Film Festival
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2026 Grey Bruce Youth Film Festival

Supported by Bruce County Public Library

The Grey Bruce Youth Film Festival, hosted by the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library in partnership with Bruce County Public Library, is an annual celebration of young filmmakers from Grey and Bruce Counties, offering students the opportunity to showcase their creativity on the big screen. Open to students in grades 7 through 12, the festival invites submissions of short animated or live-action films.

Selected films are screened each June at a special festival event at the Galaxy Cinema in Owen Sound, where winners are chosen by a panel of judges and announced following the screening. In addition to the chance to win cash prizes, selected films are broadcast on Rogers TV Grey County Channel 53 and may also be featured as the opening film at the Meaford International Film Festival, giving young creators valuable exposure and a platform to share their stories with the wider community.

Submissions to the Grey Bruce Youth Film Festival were made through BiblioBoard’s custom submission page.

“Bruce County Public Library has worked with the Grey Bruce Youth Film Festival for several years, allowing participants to submit their entries on USB drives to our branches and we would arrange to deliver them to the festival. We approached the festival organizers with the suggestion of using Biblioboard to gather and promote films, which they felt was a ‘ fantastic opportunity to streamline the film submission process, allowing teens to upload their submissions from home’. We both look forward to this year’s film submissions and to working together using Biblioboard in future years.”

– Jeremy Clark, Digital Initiatives Coordinator, Bruce County Public Library

San Juan Library Card Design Contest
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San Juan Island Library Card Design Contest

Supported by San Juan Island Library

The San Juan Library Card Design Contest invites community members to showcase their creativity by designing original artwork for the library’s limited-edition library cards. Two winning designs were selected to be featured on special library cards released during September’s Library Card Sign-Up Month. In addition to seeing their artwork in circulation throughout the community, both winners received a $100 cash prize, generously sponsored by the Friends of the San Juan Island Library. The contest celebrates artistic talent while encouraging community pride and engagement with the library.

Submissions to the San Juan Library Card Design Contest were made through BiblioBoard’s custom submission page.

“We were so excited to host a library card contest and celebrate the amazing creative spirit of our community! The two selected designs have been very popular and will be remembered for many years to come.”

– Anthony Morris, Assistant Director, San Juan Island Library

200 Poems for 200 Years
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200 Poems for 200 Years

Supported by Galena Public Library District

This community poetry project, launched and curated by Galena’s Poet Laureate, Ted Williams, celebrates the town’s enduring spirit of creativity and connection. Inspired by Galena’s beauty and rich history, the initiative invites residents and visitors alike to share poetry written in or inspired by time spent in Galena. By gathering poems from people across generations, the project brings the community together through a shared love of language, art, and storytelling while honoring the place that continues to inspire them.

Submissions to the 200 Poems for 200 Years collection were made through BiblioBoard’s custom submission page.

“200 Poems for 200 Years is a collection curated by Galena’s first Poet Laureate Ted Williams in celebration of the creative spirit of our town throughout history during our bicentennial year. Galena Public Library was thrilled to be able to provide a digital home for the collection via Biblioboard.”

– Larissa Distler, Adult Services Librarian, Galena Public Library

Oakland Diorama Project
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All the News That’s Fit to Build: Local News Dioramas

Supported by Oakland Public Library

The Magazines & Newspapers Department and the Oakland History Center invite visitors to explore a captivating exhibit of dioramas inspired by local news stories. Created by library patrons and staff, these miniature scenes bring history to life, offering a creative and immersive look at the events that have shaped the community.

“All the News That’s Fit to Build: Local News Dioramas was a physical exhibit at the Oakland Public Library’s Main Library in 2025. Community members were invited to make dioramas to illustrate newspaper articles about Oakland events, which they researched in our Oakland History Center and Magazines & Newspapers Department. This online version of the exhibit includes photographs of all 69 dioramas, as well as the newspaper articles that inspired them.”

– Emily Foster, Project Lead, Oakland Public Library

Have ideas for your own community project? Get started today by requesting a Custom Submission Page.

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Our Favorite Community Collections of 2024Our Favorite 2024 Community Collections