From Collection to Community: Reframing the Documentation of Local Wine Heritage at Katsunuma Library

Abstract

This paper examines how Katsunuma Library, a public library in Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, documents and transmits local wine heritage through its long-running “Grape and Wine Exhibition” and related practices. Rather than treating exhibitions and public programs as temporary outreach activities, the paper argues that they function as part of a documentary cycle through which local memories, oral history interviews, photographs, booklets, and other materials are gathered, organized, preserved, and reused, and connected to everyday reference service. The case also shows how the library makes visible aspects of local life that had long remained undocumented because they were too familiar to be recognized as records. In addition, the paper discusses how trust has been built between the library and local residents, growers, and winemakers; how local culture is translated into accessible forms for children and visitors through kamishibai picture-card storytelling, outreach, and wine tourism-related learning and the activities of Come Come Club; and how digital projects expand the reach and discoverability of these local records. Taken together, these practices suggest that Katsunuma Library serves as a curator of local memory, making local wine heritage visible, durable, and capable of being shared across generations.