Webcast on preservation

A webcast of of the forum "Preserving America's Diverse Heritage" is
available at

  <URL:http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/heritage_preservation/080131>

Three hundred museum, library, and archive professionals from 41
states and the District of Columbia gathered in Atlanta January
31-February 1, 2008 for the forum, "Preserving America's Diverse
Heritage," sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) in partnership with Heritage Preservation. This was the first
of four meetings around the country held to raise awareness about
the nation's valuable and endangered collections. IMLS, the primary
source of federal support for the nation's museums and libraries,
launched the forums as part of the national initiative, Connecting
to Collections: A Call to Action. See

    <URL:http://www.imls.gov/collections>

The multi-year, multi-faceted initiative aims to help museums and
libraries save their collections from poor storage conditions, pest
infestation, and exposure to light, humidity, and high temperatures.

The forum, held at the High Museum of Art and Woodruff Arts Center,
featured panels on the significance of, and challenges facing,
diverse collections, special issues involved in the care of diverse
collections, and fundamental collections care. The final panel
focused on connecting to funding and the public. Forty percent of
collecting institutions have no funds in their annual budgets for
fundamental collections care. In response to this need, Shirley
Mitchell, Bank of America Senior Vice President, announced the
formation of the American Heritage Preservation Program by the Bank
of America Charitable Foundation in partnership with IMLS. Some 150
grants of $3,000 each will be awarded over three years to help
preserve treasures held in small museums, libraries, and archives.
The two organizations will each contribute $225,000 to the new
program.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:46
                  Distributed: Thursday, March 6, 2008
                       Message Id: cdl-21-46-003
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