And because she loves research, she has become the perfect fit for the new Lakewood Village Historian position.

“I love research,” Derby said at a Sept. 8 trustees meeting. “It’s my passion.”

When not doing historian-related tasks for the village, Derby is busy with her own company which publishes books for kindergarten through 12th-grade students, and a curriculum for K though eighth-grade students.

“I think it would be amazing to do a little bit of work with the local history,” Derby said at the meeting. “So I definitely know how to organize and present data and history and content in a fun and engaging way for people.”

Olivia Derby

Her vision for the museum located in the lower level of the Village Hall, 20 W. Summit St., is to start digitizing the documents that are stored there, and to place them into a searchable digital archive.

“I’m very data focused. … So, I would love to see the archives, and all of that amazing set of documents that we have to be digitized,” Derby told trustees at their Sept. 8 meeting.

Derby is also seeking about five or six volunteers to help her organize the museum’s files, so the museum can be more approachable.

“So I am organizing the museum, and I would like to turn it into something a little bit more hands-on and approachable for students and people in the community. The more help we get, the faster we can turn it into something wonderful.” Derby said.

Derby added that people who come to the village don’t realize the wonderful history of Chautauqua Lake and some of the really fascinating things about the village.

The Lakewood Historical Museum is located in the lower section of the village hall, 20 W. Summit St. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

One idea she has for the museum is to have a kiosk with different digital pictures. A patron may scroll though the pics, and click on one pic which would display a statement or several statements about the picture itself.

“It would make it kind of more accessible to kids in the area and students in different schools, because there’s a lot of really neat local research that you can get into,” Derby added.

She noted that the ultimate role of a historian is to preserve the historical documents and the legacy of the village, and make them accessible for the future.

When looking for the next historian, Mayor Randall Holcomb wanted to make sure the person had ties to the village.

“Lakewood is honored that Olivia has accepted the historian position of our great village. Her deep Lakewood roots of three generations living in the village additionally enhances her profile to become our next historian. I am grateful that she has accepted the position and look forward to working with Olivia and her ideas,” Holcomb said.

“I always joke with my mom, who tells me I’m a storyteller. It’s not that I like research, it’s that I like stories. So from math and history and science, it’s just all a bunch of wonderful stories,” Derby said.