Earlier posts described the efforts of Massachusetts and other states in securing planning grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a Federal agency.
One of the shortcomings of past efforts, including the national Heritage Health Index (described in this post), was the under-representation of smaller institutions, including the many local historical societies.
There are roughly 1,000 historical societies (in name or function) throughout New England, the vast majority of which are all-volunteer organizations. Often these organizations serve as the repositories for the town’s archives. Despite the tireless work of those who staff and support local historical societies, most societies, including the one on whose board I serve, don’t have the physical set up, the training, the time, or the budget to maintain their collections in ways that are comparable to the preservation efforts at large institutions. We do the best we can, of course, but with meager resources, we trade off things like maintaining the building, putting on programs, supporting research requests, and managing an ever-expanding collection.
The unintended result of the under-representation is that those institutions in which the situation is most dire are the least likely to show up in the results.
In order to address this, the advisory board that’s been established includes three members (in bold below) representing historical societies.
The members and the (draft) minutes of the first meeting, which took place on September 18, 2009, are below.
In order to provide a platform for communication and discussion, I’ll post updates during the life of this Advisory Board. If you belong to an historical society in Massachusetts and have suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me or, better yet, add them below. When you add your comment, I’ll be notified and others will be able to learn from and participate in the discussion.
Members of the Advisory Board for the 2009 Massachusetts IMLS Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning Grant
This is a partial list. It will be updated when a complete list of members is made available to us.
- Angelina Altobellis, Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC)
- Mark Vassar, Harvard University Schlesinger Library and Cambridge Historical Society
- Jennifer Fauxsmith, Massachusetts Archives
- David Blackburn, Lowell National Historical Park, National Park Service
- Mary Berhle, Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System (NMRLS)
- Joanne Riley, Joseph P. Healey Library at UMass Boston
- Pamela Hatchfield, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Kate Viens, New England Museum Association (NEMA)
- Michael Comeau, Massachusetts Archives
- Martha Clark, Massachusetts Archives
- B.J. Larson, New England Museum Association (NEMA)
- Jessica Steytler, Congregational Library
- Michael Schuetz, Historic New England
- Lee Wright, Marlborough Historical Society
- Diane Smith, Massachusetts Commonwealth Consortium of Libraries in Public Higher Education Institutions (MCCPHEI)
- Sharon Sharry, Greenfield Public Library
- Mary Lawler, South Hadley Historical Society
- Gregor Trinkaus-Randall, Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC)
- Rachel Masse, MBLC
- Rebecca Meyer, MBLC
To read the document below, either use the controls in the grey bar at the top of the document or double click on link immediately below.
MA IMLS Connecting to Collections Grant Advisory Committee Minutes 09-18-09–Draft
One Comment
Thanks for doing this, Lee.