In 2006 and 2007, Chelsea District Library, a small public library in Chelsea, Michigan, digitized a collection of 15,000 obituaries on a small budget by using a staff of nearly 50 volunteers and open source software. The author describes the research and planning that led up to the project; unique aspects of the staffing and technology for the project; and the resulting database, which contributed to the library being named “Best Small Library in America” for 2008 by Library
Journal. The database continues to be updated, expanded, and improved, and the use of volunteers as the primary workforce has had long term rewards for the library. The chapter demonstrates the accessibility of digitization projects to libraries, even those without pre-existing expertise, large staffs, or big budgets.