The following is posted on behalf of a colleague who is not a member of
Museum-L.  I know this is a question that will be of interest to many on
this list, so I will be happy to forward replies to her that are posted
here.

Many thanks.

Martha Katz-Hyman
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bagnall, Trena <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 3:26 PM
Subject: [AASLH Hist House Mus] Mothballing collections

  Hello,
I hope you will please excuse any cross-posting.


I have to ask some advice on a difficult situation. The museum where I work
is facing severe cutbacks due to the struggling economy. Fortunately, we
will continue to be able to keep our doors open, though on a much reduced
basis with significantly less staff. Unfortunately, one position we are
losing is our Collections Manager, and we are being asked to essentially
'mothball' our collections until such time as our endowment recovers
significantly enough or other financial sources help fill the gap enough to
resume more ideal operations.


This will almost certainly include expanding the temperature range that we
allow, placing a 99.9% moratorium on the acquisition of new objects, and
limited public access to items for research.


Have any of you, or institutions that you know of, been through a similar
process? If so, how did you manage the process and still stay consistent
with your mission and legal/public obligations? Are there policies or
procedures that you developed that you would be willing to share?


We are hoping to learn from others how to make the best of this challenging
situation. I thank you in advance for any thoughts you can share.


Sincerely,
Trena

Trena Winans-Bagnall
Curator of Education
Midland County Historical Society
3417 W. Main Street
Midland, MI 48640
(989) 631-5930 ext 1311
[log in to unmask] <bagnall%40mcfta.org>
www.mcfta.org

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