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The National Endowment for the Humanities as part of their Preservation Assessment Grant for Small Institutions recently funded a visit to Special Collections & Archives by nationally known Facilities Consultant, Tom Wilsted.
Tom’s goals for his consultancy included the following:
- Review existing building plans and collection documents including preservation and emergency plans
- Travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to meet with library staff to discuss archives and rare book operations
- Meet with library administrators, facilities and development staff to gain insight into building needs and plans for potential building renovations.
- Review the existing facilities and collections
Tom submitted his final report in April 2015, and his remarks included thirteen specific recommendations for Special Collections & Archives to implement and/or consider. The report considered the following areas:
- Building environmental conditions
- Building security
- Fire protection
- Storage conditions
- Storage equipment
- Space functionality
In planning for the future, he stated that the funding and renovation of the facilities should be a high priority, for both collections storage and public services.
1 Comment on ‘Special Collections & Archives 2015 NEH Grant for Visiting Consultant’
Good job finding money to pay for an outside consultant on your facilities planning. It helps the SMT to hear the same things you’ve been telling them from an impartial outsider.
I will be contacting you to ask for some input on special collections and archives administration within libraries.