Tomball archivist details digitization plan, donor process and partnership push with Lone Star College

Allison Lisonbee Baraka, the city archivist hired in October 2024, told the Tomball City Council on Jan. 5 that the Tomball Archive and History Center (TAHC) has established foundational policies, inventory systems and basic preservation monitoring while beginning to accession community donations.

Baraka said the center, currently housed at Lone Star College, has focused on physical readiness — shelving, labels and temperature/humidity monitoring — and on operational documents including intake and access policies that are now under legal review. "We are city supported and city governed," Baraka said, noting an in‑kind partnership with county and college partners.

Why it matters: Council members flagged several donations of local historical interest and asked how materials now held elsewhere could be incorporated. Baraka described two collection types: city records identified for permanent retention and MS (special manuscript) collections donated by residents or community groups. She said accessioning requires a documented transfer of custody and that, in some cases, digital transfer agreements may be the practical solution.

On priorities, Baraka listed four near‑term goals: formalize an intergovernmental agreement with Lone Star College to clarify shared roles and equipment use; consider a joint advisory council to give city and county stakeholders oversight; select a front‑facing digital repository to allow public search and access; and finish processing existing boxes (refoldering, labeling and cataloging). She also said donor outreach and volunteer recruitment are top priorities for the next quarter.

Council members asked about scope and timeline. Baraka said the center is still processing collections so the total number of items to digitize is unknown; selection for digitization will follow the center's preservation policy and use criteria such as frequency of access and physical fragility. She described a mobile digitization rig (an overhead camera and book cradle) that produces archival TIFF files, allowing quality imaging without a large fixed scanner.

Baraka raised a custody question about bound Tomball newspapers from 1913 that the Harris County Public Library currently stores. She said staff must document who donated the materials and obtain transfer language before accessioning them into Tomball's holdings. "We want to ensure that we can document the legal transfer of custody of these items," she said, offering to provide a draft donor agreement to the council.

What's next: Baraka and staff will draft or finalize donor-transfer templates and pursue the intergovernmental agreement with Lone Star College. Staff signaled budget requests may come at the next budget cycle to expand the program's capacity from a part‑time archivist and volunteers toward a larger operation that can sustain digitization and public access.

Ending: The council thanked Baraka and staff for the quarterly report and asked for follow‑up material (facility‑use and donor agreements, and an updated project timeline) as the archive moves from setup into public operations.