We've evolved! When I first started as Executive Director, I did all the cleaning - or found volunteers to help. A year later I was able to hire an assistant who works during the museum's open hours. She took on the "light" housecleaning such as vacuuming, dusting, cobweb patrol, etc. This spring our museum became a work site for adjudicated community service. I can't say enough good about the community service program. I know you occasionally get a bad egg, or a lazy worker, but by and large, our workers have been fabulous. We recently had a professional painter doing community service. He looked over our building, and met with me with a proposal. Instead of menial cleanup tasks, he cleaned the outside of our building and painted it. Our trim was in serious need to repainting. I don't think there's a surface left that he hasn't at least touched up. He was also quick to "get it" that he was working on a historic building and needed to use our materials, and to follow our direction. He said it was a real education for him. And we got a ton of work done by a happy worker. We usually offer a choice of tasks and a lot of the ladies would prefer "housework" over cleaning out sheds, repairing fences or policing the grounds. What kinds of crimes have these folks committed? The biggies are: passing bad checks, DUIs, and assault. (I ALWAYS want to know the details of the assaults. They're usually bar fights. But, I always give my assistant the final say, since she supervises the workers.) So far, this program has been a win-win. The Community Service Program is thrilled to have us as a site. The workers love our site and are made to feel like any other volunteer. We now have a sparkling facility, and a seemingly endless supply of labor. Practical matters - There is a very small amount of record keeping, and you do need to supply tools and materials. You can specify which types of criminals you will or won't accept. For instance, our site will not accept anyone convicted of a child-related or crime. And of course you need to use some common sense - a petty thief probably shouldn't be put to work in your gift shop. Oh yeah, we've had a few community service folks make the transition to volunteers after their sentence was served. Becky Fitzgerald Susquehanna Museum _____ From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sharon Maguire Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 1:46 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: cleaning Anyone, I would like to know if any historic house museums out there could tell me something about their housecleaning situation. Do you have a cleaning service; does one individual on staff do it, the curator or asst. curator, or a combination of staff? By housecleaning I mean cleaning under furniture, knocking down cobwebs, vacuuming, wiping down baseboards, etc. etc. I would greatly appreciate any and all input. Thank you Sharon Maguire Asst. Curator ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).