Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) created Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action: a multi-year, multi-faceted national initiative to raise public awareness and inspire action. The initiative is grounded in the results of the Heritage Preservation publication: A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections. You can read more about the study here www.heritagepreservation.org/HHI.

Connecting to Collections: Raising the Bar
Workshops for Libraries, Archives and Museums

Heritage Preservation is conducting a series of in person workshops and webinars that will extend and enhance the knowledge gained in the Institute of Museum and Library Services initiative, Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action. Libraries and museums nationwide have, as a result of the initiative, gained information and inspiration for the care of their collections. Now they are facing challenges as they seek to integrate these ideas into their institutions during an economic downturn. These workshops provide tools for building capacity, reaching the public and developing resources in order to save collections.

Conservation and the stories behind it can be effective tools to gain new audiences, build community support, and develop resources that will sustain collections for future generations. These workshops and webinars enlist a team of experienced presenters who both describe successful projects and work with participants to help them develop strategies of their own. Three panels explore traditional and “new” media, resource development, and public education and outreach. Participants are challenged to return to their institutions and implement what they have learned.

Two in person workshops were conducted on-site for regional participants. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore, Maryland, was the site of the first workshop on May 18, 2010. Click here to view the Baltimore program. The second workshop, on June 16 and 17, 2010, was held at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa. Click here to view the Davenport program.

Staff members of institutions in nearby states that have participated in various aspects of Connecting to Collections or who have received collections-related grants from IMLS in the past five years were eligible to participate. A simple on-line application was required, and modest travel stipends were available.

The next stage of the project is the webinars to be made available nationally in the fall of 2010. This series may also include other topics of significance to the Connecting to Collections audience. To be notified of the webinars' schedule and content, please email Lauren Hunley at lhunley(a)heritagepreservation.org.

This project is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Peck Stacpoole Foundation, and the Bay and Paul Foundations.