How to Save Your Old VHS Tapes in Michigan Before It’s Too Late

Do you have any family memories recorded? Do you own some of your favorite childhood films on VHS?

If that is yes to either question, it may be slightly hard to find a VHS player to take a trip down memory lane.

After learning this information, you will never need to scavenger for a VHSp player ever again.

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⬇️ READ MORE: 10 VHS Tapes You Totally Owned As A ’90s Kid ⬇️

GRTV Media Preservation

Under Grand Rapids Community Media Center umbrella, GRTV launched a new service for Grand Rapids community members to take advantage of.

The new Media Preservation Suite is set up for any community members and organizations who want to transferred their "outmoded media - such as VHS tapes, cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, and 8-millimeter film - into digital formats."

Personally, I plan to use the service to digitize my grandparents' 50th anniversary from VHS. So, I love that GRTV was able to launch this new service.

In fact, Joe Zook, GRTV's Production Manager, seems to agree with me.

"With every passing year, there's a greater urgency to preserve our shared history on these outmoded media formats - many of which have a limited shelf life. There's a lot of potential local history and assets of importance that will otherwise die out and never be viewable again if not digitized now."

Imagine loosing all of those family memories. Who would want that?

If you are interested in the Media Preservation Suite, you must be a GRCMC all-access member. After becoming a member, you will need to complete a one-time certification training so you can learn the digitization equipment and software.

After that class, you have a few more things to learn, such as "file naming conventions and other best practices for preserving media."

Once you finish the training, the Suite is accessiable to you at no additional cost as long as you reserve ahead of time.

"Members can bring their own hard drive to digitize directly to or upload onto the cloud. Members can also pay GRTV staff to convert their media starting at $25, which will vary depending on the media type and size."

Fore more information, including their hours of operation, you can read the full press release here.