In the back room of the Geary Public Library, where the nonfiction books live, the room’s central table is covered in photographs.
Boxes of photos from decades past fill the room. The pictures have a bit of everything: prom photos, community events, school pictures, traditional Native ceremonies. But the biggest collection is of weddings – lots and lots of weddings.
And the pictures span decades, from the 1960s or ‘70s through the early 1990s.
Now, the library is hoping that interested locals will come look through the collection and claim photos of themselves or family members.
Geary librarian Lois Margerum said the photos came from the collection of local Rev. Clifford Koehn, longtime pastor of the First Mennonite Church who opened a photography business, as well, to help document local events. Koehn died in 2016 and gave his collection to the city of Geary, Margerum said.
“And they just sat back there,” said library assistant Kim Hoyle. “Nobody had gone through them, so we asked them if we could bring them to the library.
“We’ve told people they’re here, and they’ve come and looked through them.”
Hoyle said anybody is welcome to claim their own pictures or their family’s.
The Geary Public Library is located at 106 W Main St. It is open every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.