Phillips County Library to host free Revolutionary Transcribe-a-Thon in Helena

Phillips County Library will turn its Helena branch into a working history lab on Saturday, June 27, when it hosts a free Revolutionary Transcribe-a-Thon at 10:30 a.m. at 702 Porter St. #3142, Helena, AR 72342.

The program is designed to be hands-on from the start. It will open with a short preview from The American Revolution, then move into guided training and live transcription of Revolutionary-era documents through the Library of Congress By the People project. Organizers say no experience is necessary, and the event is free and open to the public.

Residents who want to take part can bring a laptop or use library computers at the Phillips County Library site. Registration is available by calling 870-338-3537 or by stopping at the reference desk.

The event gives Phillips County families and researchers a direct way to help preserve and improve access to historical records. By the People asks volunteers to transcribe, review and tag digitized manuscripts and typed materials so they are easier to search and use. That kind of public participation matters in a county library setting, where access to educational resources can shape who gets to work with the historical record and how widely that history can be shared.

The Helena transcribe-a-thon is being organized with Arkansas TV and the Arkansas Center for the Book, a program of the Arkansas State Library. The Arkansas Center for the Book was established in 2000, is headquartered at the Arkansas State Library and exists to encourage reading, writing and literacy in Arkansas while helping protect the state’s literary history. Phillips County Library is listed by the Arkansas State Library as part of the Phillips County Libraries system in Helena.

The June 27 event is one of four statewide transcribe-a-thons Arkansas TV is promoting this month, alongside stops in Hope on June 9, Springdale on April 11 and Hot Springs on June 16. The series is tied to America 250, the national commemoration of the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, and the Phillips County session extends that effort into a local setting where residents can work on the records themselves rather than simply watch from the audience.

For Phillips County, the value is practical as much as historical: a free public program, a familiar building on Porter Street, and a chance to help make Revolutionary-era materials more usable for anyone who needs them.