Putnam County Receives Two Grants For Archives

"Putnam County Government has just received two grants from the New York State Archives and Records Administration. One grant in the amount of $60,000 to complete a conversion of County Clerk Land Records from microfilm to electronic images. The second grant received was $40,000 to enhance our Geographical Information Systems Department," said Deputy County Clerk, Dennis Sant.

For a County to receive two grants in the same year is rare due to competitiveness Statewide. Putnam County has actually received over $700,000, representing 15 grants over the last 10 years for Record Management Programs. This has allowed us to transform record keeping and record accountability in Putnam County forever.

"It’s not just the monies we have received," Sant said, "but all the expertise and professional support that goes into each project. In a relatively short time, Putnam County has successfully established, the first record inventory in Putnam County’s history of all active and inactive records. This inventory allowed Putnam County to destroy tons of obsolete records saving over 500,000 in storage fees alone. We established Putnam County’s first state of the art Records Center; established Putnam County’s first climatically controlled Archival Center; we established Putnam County’s first Microfilming Department; we were able to conduct a Geographical Information System study, which has allowed us to create our new Geographical Information Systems Department; we established Putnam County’s first Website, putnamcountyny.com, now offering Putnam County Government to our residents in the convenience of their homes 24 hours a day. These and other grants were financed by New York State Archives and Records Administration for the purpose of establishing ongoing Record Management programs, and not at taxpayers’ expense."

"Does all this sound a little boring?" Sant said, "but it’s really not, because it’s all about people and using the latest technology to preserve their most precious vital records and archival treasures of the past, and of course serving people, and that’s where the real challenge lies."