Two South Carolina public library directors recently attended “Connecting to Collections: The National Conservation Summit” held June 27 and 28, 2007 at The Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Washington DC.
The summit, organized by Heritage Preservation, a national organization devoted to preserving America’s heritage, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, was held to encourage institutions and individuals to protect America’s heritage and to raise public awareness of the dangers collections face. A generous grant from The Henry Luce Foundation helped support the summit.
The 350 participants attending the summit included over 200 representatives of small and medium-sized museums and libraries from every state.The summit featured national leaders in conservation, government officials, and leaders in private sector support for conservation. Mr. Dwight McInvaill, Georgetown County Public Library Director, and Mr. Richard Band, Lancaster County Public Library Director were both invited to attend this important and informative event.
McInvaill stated that he “returned with a sense of urgency about the need to share and to protect our historical materials.” He continued by stating, “These two aspects are interrelated, because citizens will be more apt to dedicate resources to historical treasures that they know and value. Much is endangered, too. According to the Heritage Health Index – that can be found on the web at www.heritagehealthindex.org – most archival materials in US collections are exposed to hazards and are also very vulnerable to swift and catastrophic loss.” According to Band, “The conference was invaluable in informing us about the scope of the problem and letting us hear what others are doing to correct it. Collecting itself is preservation; otherwise these important materials might be lost forever.”
McInvaill continued to say that, “We must do a better job soon both statewide and locally to develop emergency plans in order to safeguard our archives better from disasters; we must also work continually to improve daily conditions for our materials while also using our imagination to provide the public creatively with access to our holding without damaging these resources. All of this is quite a challenge, but as a profession we are certainly up to it.” And Band mentioned, “most libraries don’t have the funding or expertise to organize, preserve and make accessible the materials in their trust.”
Both attendees agreed that the scope of the conference and the impressive assembly of experts in the field made it well worth attending. “We were able to listen to a wide spectrum of speakers ranging from the head of the national archives to the curator of an isolated American Indian collection. The topics were also varied with information on funding, conserving, disseminating, and advocating. The IMLS and others crafted with care an excellent conference, and I appreciate having been a part of it,” said McInvaill.
The summit featured keynote addresses by Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, and Francie Alexander, Senior Vice President of Scholastic Education and Chief Academic Officer of Scholastic Inc. For more information about the Institute of Museum and Library services, visit www.imls.gov, and for more information about Heritage Preservation, visit www.heritagepreservation.org.
