Isabel Nowak, who lives in Wake Forest, is a Visitors’ Associate at the Wake Forest Historical Museum. She graduated from Davidson College in 2023, is currently attending the UNCG MLIS program, and also works as a Collections Specialist for the City of Raleigh. Recently Isabel was able to the attend the North Carolina Museums Council meeting, and here is her report:
A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the 2026 North Carolina Museums Conference in Greenville, NC. I got to tour places like the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Grifton, NC, and the Greenville Museum of Art, and attend sessions on topics like thoughtful deaccessioning and advice for emerging professionals. It was a wonderful experience to be able to talk to other attendees and instantly have something in common; I loved hearing everyone talk about their respective museums and adjacent institutions and being able to discuss my work at the Wake Forest Historical Museum in turn.
One of my personal highlights was the Book Cradle and Document Mount Workshop given by ECU Libraries Conservator Larry Houston at Joyner Library. I learned about the pros and cons of different display materials, and gained hands-on experience in creating matboard document mounts and Mylar photo corners for exhibition, and two different kinds of custom book cradles.
Special thanks to ZSR Library for making my trip possible!
3 Comments on ‘Attending the North Carolina Museums Conference Meeting (Greenville, NC)’
What a wonderful experience, to be able to learn safe processes and also get hands-on experience. I have worked with Larry Houston and know him to be very knowledgable and super helpful. Thank you for this report.
Thank you for this report, Isabel! I’m glad you had the opportunity to broaden your knowledge base by connecting with other museums, libraries, and related institutions. The hands-on experience you gained from the Book Cradle and Document Mount Workshop will be very helpful as well!
Thanks for sharing, Isabel!