The Newsplan 2000 Project aims to save the country’s most rare and fragile newspaper titles for the nation.
The idea is to preserve and improve access to titles around the UK.
Here is one story of how the papers are being saved.

A wartime bomb damaged the British Library Newspaper Library repository overnight on October 20, 1940 and an estimated 10,000 volumes of newspapers were destroyed with a further 15,000 damaged.

In the years that followed, there was some microfilming of damaged newspapers, but not enough money to film them all.

But following the Heritage Lottery Fund award to Newsplan 2000, each UK Newsplan region chose which titles in its area should be microfilmed.

Northern Ireland chose a run of the Derry Standard – some of which are only held at the British Library.

The 1940 bomb had caused extensive damage, particularly to some August 1930 issues of the Derry paper.

Pieces of brick were embedded in some paper and there was mould growth and other damage.

Although care will be needed in the filming of these issues, Newsplan 2000 believes it will be possible to reproduce all of the text on film and a copy will again be available that can be kept in Northern Ireland.

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail [email protected]