City Records

As Custodian of Records, the City Clerk's Department serves as the official filing center for all City resolves, orders, ordinances, contracts, minutes, and documents adopted by the City Council. The Clerk handles requests for information regarding official City documents.

Preservation of historical records is an ongoing effort of this Department. Restoration of historic records requires deacidification, mending, and reinforcement of paper, rebinding, and/or mylar encapsulation, where necessary. Preservation methods also include acquiring current technology to digitize records to greatly reduce the day-to-day use of the actual records. Digital images can easily be converted to microfilm to meet the requirements of the Maine State Archives Records Management Policies.

The chief monument to the history of a city is its public archives. Preservation of archives is universally recognized as a proper and natural function of government. Public records are public property and stewardship over records is a government responsibility vital to the public trust. The City's public records are owned by the people in the same sense that citizens own City Hall, the Public Library, the parks, the streets and sidewalks, and the funds in the treasury.

The City's archive, administered by the City Clerk's Office, is charged by law with a special role in protecting and managing the recorded information of the City of Bangor. Like other public assets, the City's records are held in trust for the citizens by custodians, that is, the heads of City departments. Our records, within the Office of the City Clerk, are protected and permanently preserved as historical, cultural, and legal assets for use by the City government and the public.

In a very real sense, archives are the most important municipal asset of all. Archives and records are unique and irreplaceable and document the conduct of the people's business, including the rights, privileges, and property of individual citizens. Archives shed light on our experience as a government and a community, help us better understand our past successes and failures, and open a broad range of possibilities for planning better futures.