[PADG:1479] NEWSPLAN 2000 Project (UK) Press Release

["Lauder, John" <John.Lauder@xxxxx>]

THE UK'S MOST FRAGILE LOCAL NEWSPAPERS SAVED FOR THE NATION

Over 1,600 of the UK's most fragile newspaper titles will be saved for the
nation by a grant of £5 million made to the NEWSPLAN 2000 Project by the
Heritage Lottery Fund. It is the largest grant for preservation of part of
the UK's historical record ever made in the UK.

The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project is a unique partnership between the Heritage
Lottery Fund, the newspaper industry, and libraries across all parts of the
UK to save the text of the country's most fragile and rare local newspapers.


The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project will preserve and improve access to over 1,600
local newspaper titles in urgent peril from deterioration in every part of
the UK, from County Down to Cardiff, from Glasgow to Cornwall, and from
Cumbria to Kent, extending from 1780 to 1950. This massive task of
preservation will involve the microfilming of over 40,000 volumes of local
newspapers preserving 21 million pages of text.

>From the early 1830s onwards newspapers become fragile because elements in
the paper on which they are printed react with the atmosphere causing
acidification. This process is accelerated when combined with heavy usage.
Left in this condition, newspapers will disintegrate and perish. To arrest
this decline, the NEWSPLAN 2000 Project will preserve local newspapers on
archival-quality microfilm, the internationally-accepted preservation
standard, which has a life of at least 500 years.

The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project will also improve access for the public to local
newspapers across the whole of the UK by making the microfilmed text
available in local libraries in the areas served by each newspaper, and by
supplying libraries with microfilm readers and reader-printers to improve
access both for existing users and for new users.

Dr Ann Matheson, Chairman of The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project, warmly welcomed the
decision of the Heritage Lottery Fund: ' This is a marvellous day for local
newspapers. Now, with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the UK
newspaper industry, and the efforts of libraries across the UK, we can be
confident that a priceless part of our history will be saved and will
survive for the use and enjoyment of all our citizens'. 

The aims of this major endeavour have been supported by the UK newspaper
industry from the start. The President of the Newspaper Society, Mr Edwin
Boorman, said: 'We welcome the news of this grant from the Heritage Lottery
Fund, which will help to safeguard this country's most fragile newspapers,
many of which are no longer published. They form a unique part of the
nation's heritage, which will now be protected for future generations'.
                     
The Rt Hon. Baroness Blackstone, Minister of State for the Arts, Department
of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said: 'Local newspapers are an integral
part of local history and culture, providing an incomparable barometer of
local opinion over past centuries. Often they represent the first-person
witnesses to important events. I congratulate the Heritage Lottery Fund on
making this grant to the NEWSPLAN 2000 Project. The grant will save a vital
part of our nation's archives allowing historians, students and others
access to these documents while preserving them from further deterioration.
This Project will be an enormous undertaking but I am sure future
generations will benefit from being given the opportunity to study and enjoy
this invaluable resource'.

Ms Anthea Case, Director of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: 'The Heritage
Lottery Fund is very excited about supporting this flagship project to save
a unique archive of national importance for future generations. It will
allow many more people to have access to resources for learning about the
history of their community. By preserving local newspapers across the UK,
this grant award helps to fulfil the Heritage Lottery Fund's objective that
every community across the UK should benefit from its support'.


Further information for the press is available from The NEWSPLAN 2000
Project: Dr Ann Matheson, Chairman, Board of Trustees, The NEWSPLAN 2000
Project (0131-664 2717); and Mr John Lauder, Project Director, The NEWSPLAN
2000 Project (020 7412 7372). Photographs of deteriorating newspapers are
available at the Project's Website <www.NEWSPLAN2000.org> and may be
downloaded for use by the press.



NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project
The NEWSPLAN 2000 Project is a preservation and access initiative to
preserve local newspaper titles from all parts of the UK by microfilming
them to archival-quality preservation standards. Microfilming to this
standard also provides a foundation for subsequent digitisation of the text.

2. The NEWSPLAN Programme
The NEWSPLAN Programme was established in the mid-1980s as a UK-wide
regional initiative, supported by the British Library, to examine the
condition of local newspapers across the UK. Each Region of England, along
with Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, has its own NEWSPLAN Committee,
comprising librarians, users and representatives of the newspaper industry.
Reports for each Region of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
have been published over the decade from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.

3. The Newspaper Society
The Newspaper Society, founded in 1836, is the voice of the UK's regional
press. It represents and promotes the interests of over 1,300 regional and
local, daily and weekly, paid-for and free titles. Further information on
the Newspaper Society from Lynne Anderson, Communications Director, on 020
7636 7014; Website: www.newspapersoc.org.uk

4. The Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund provides financial support for the protection and
enhancement of our heritage, of local, regional or national importance, for
the benefit of communities throughout the UK. So far, 7,209 grants have been
awarded with a combined value of over £1.7 billion. Further information on
the Heritage Lottery Fund from Mark Ludmon or Katie Owen, Heritage Lottery
Fund Press Office, on 020 7591 6102/6032; text 'phone: 020 7591 6255;
Website: www.hlf.org









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