“What will life be like in 2064?” ponders Mary Boyle, local history and genealogy librarian at the Santa Clara City Library. “Will people then still read books at the library? Will they come to study and learn new things? Libraries are places that turn around your life and increase your knowledge. Since we spend so much time alone using computers, libraries are great places for meeting up with others. Will it be like that in 2064?”
One sure thing 2064 is expected to hold is a time capsule for future Santa Clara residents to open. Mary Hanel, former librarian, and Martha Hull, library foundation board member and chair of the time capsule committee, filled, sealed, and wrapped this time capsule on Thursday, Oct. 9 during a public dedication ceremony at the Northside Library.
“I’m so excited about us doing the time capsule because all we have in life are moments strung together through time,” says Mayor Jamie Matthews in a speech. At the end of his speech, Matthews carefully set his Santa Clara pin on top of the time capsule. Members of the City Council also contributed a signed letter for future generations.
The time capsule is 18.5″ by 16.5″ by 9.” Hanel and Hull described the items they were placing in the time capsule, which included the most recent Don Callejon School yearbook, a binder of family histories, old issues of The Santa Clara Weekly, orange Northside Library protest shirts, and Jennifer Fosberry’s children’s book, “My Name is Not Isabella.” Fosberry had spoken at the library through an anonymous donation made in honor of local philanthropist Emma Kaliterna.
“My family’s roots come from the philosophy of Sikhism,” says Harbir Kaur Bhatia, an attendee who contributed a family history. “We were always taught to challenge the system for fairness.”
“The binder of local people’s stories that went into the time capsule [is my favorite item],” says Hanel, referring to a collection of information about many community members, including library supporters. “The item is important because it reflects the community living here now. If you look at the census 50 years ago, the demographics are very different from what we have today. It’ll be interesting to see what the demographics would be 50 years from now.”
Hull discusses a banner featuring children’s handprints made by young visitors during the library’s grand opening. A copy of the banner would go into the time capsule.
“During the handprint activity, I asked kids where their family was from,” she says. “I had expected children to say they’re from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Peru…to show how multicultural the community is here. But the children I spoke to said they were from Santa Clara. How wonderful that we all belong to Santa Clara.”