The celebration will culminate with a free talk by California State Librarian and noted historian Kevin Starr titled "Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters Had It Right Regarding the San Fernando Valley."

Starr's talk will take place at 7 p.m. in the Oviatt Library Presentation Room. The library is located in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

The celebration will begin at noon on the front portico of the library when Assemblyman Keith Richman reads a joint resolution from the state Assembly and Senate declaring the day "San Fernando Valley History Day."

There will be an agricultural exhibit from Pierce College, featuring live animals, and performances by Ballet Folklorico Aztlan de CSUN and the Bob van West Square Dance Group.

California history projects by local elementary school students will be on display in the library's lobby. And throughout the day there will be demonstrations on how to use the new digital library.

Susan Curzon, dean of the University Library, said the new digital library is a symbol for Northridge's on-going commitment of service to the community and "a gold mine to educators because of the extensive database of images it presents."

Curzon said the digital library represents a collaboration of 40 agencies, museums, libraries, historical societies and individuals and led to the formation of a San Fernando Valley Heritage Network.

"We hope that this will be a source of civic pride that really tells the history of our Valley, all our histories," Curzon said.

The digital library is a result of a $153,000 grant from the state library to digitally preserve the San Fernando Valley's history.

CSUN's library staff worked closely with local historical societies to select documents and images from their archives, as well as the university's, that were copied digitally and then put on the web. The web site address is digital-library.csun.edu, which will continue to be under construction until Oct. 16.

The digital library database brings together for the first time significant historical photographs, illustrations, maps, manuscripts, documents and related graphic materials from a variety of collections including CSUN's Center for Photojournalism and Visual History and the Geography Department's Map Library to local historical societies in Burbank, Calabasas, Chatsworth and Topanga as well as the Little Landers Historical Society and Bolton Hall Museum and the Los Encinos State Historic Park.

For more information about the digital library, call (818) 677-2638.

The Oviatt Library is home to more than one million volumes, three million microfilms, 125,000 government publications, 7,798 periodical titles and an extensive historical collection of mixed media, rare books and archives. It serves as the main research facility for the San Fernando Valley.

California State University, Northridge has more than 30,000 full- and part-time students and offers 63 bachelor's and 51 master's degrees. Founded in 1958, it is the only four-year university in the San Fernando Valley and the third largest in the 23-campus CSU system. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges recently said CSUN "stands as a model to other public urban institutions of higher education."