Knox County Public Library Foundation will officially donate the digitized version of historic archive of the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1922-1990 to officials at the public library at a luncheon celebration at noon on Tuesday, October 4 at the East Tennessee History Center. 

The donation comes after an 18-month campaign to raise funds to digitize the daily paper, making it fully searchable for library card holders from any internet-enabled device. Prior to this effort, history seekers had to come to one of a few locations in East Tennessee to scan reels of microfilm by hand. Without knowledge of the date of publication, research was haphazard and difficult. This new resource allows any person interested in history to search articles, headlines, advertisements, photo captions and obituaries based on keywords. 

Ginna Mashburn, chair of the Knox County Public Library Foundation, led the organization's first ever capital campaign, which raised nearly $600,000 for the project, and Sam Venable served as the honorary chair of the Foundation’s campaign known as “From Papers to Pixels.” Nearly 450 contributions from individuals, organizations and foundations supported the project. 

Leading up to the event, the Library hosted a Papers to Pixels Online Scavenger Hunt, designed to encourage those interested in the digital archive to explore the seven decades of published articles. The winner of the scavenger hunt will be drawn from a pool of participants with correct answers. The winner will receive lunch with Sam Venable and an Ancestry.com DNA kit.