June 20—NEW ALBANY—The Floyd County Library brings together community recipes and local history through a new project.
The library is seeking submissions from local residents for the “Feast in Floyd” cookbook project. Prescriptions are accepted until August 1.
The entries can be a family recipe passed down from generation to generation, an original recipe, or a twist on a classic recipe.
Veronica Palensky, a public service librarian at the Floyd County Library, said cookbooks are a “little snapshot of history,” especially if they contain recipes passed down from generation to generation.
Palensky said she personally loves cooking and collecting cookbooks, which was one of her inspirations for the project. She enjoys looking at cookbooks in the library and says she enjoys reading the inspiration and backgrounds behind the recipes.
“You can physically hold that and remember and taste that,” she said. “There’s so much sensory information in a cookbook.”
Local history will be an important part of the community’s cookbook project and will include historical photos and the story behind the recipes. She notes that one of the librarians at the Floyd County Library plans to include a recipe taken from her family’s restaurant.
The library also presents several community events related to the project. On July 6, the library will be holding a lesson on family recipe preservation, including advice on how to store, transcribe and digitize recipes safely.
On August 10, the library will host a family cookbook workshop where people will learn how to use the recipes they have saved and how to create their own family cookbook. The event will include ways to create a cookbook at a low cost.
The library’s cookbook launch party will take place September 1 at the Carnegie Center for Art and History. It will be in coordination with Carnegie’s “Ate by 10” exhibit, which will highlight issues of food insecurity in the community.
The library has an online form for submitting prescriptions, and if anyone has trouble filling out the submissions online, contact the library to set up an in-person appointment, Palensky said.
