Hawai‘i Museums Association recipient of groundbreaking IMLS grant

HONOLULU, HI ~ Hawai‘i has a rich cultural heritage that is cared for by museums, arboretums, archives, libraries and other institutions. The significance of these diverse collections and the challenges associated with caring for them was recognized by a grant from the Institute for Library and Museum Services (IMLS) awarded to the Hawai‘i Museums Association (HMA). The project director, Lynn Davis (Head of the University of Hawai‘i Library’s Preservation Department) sees this grant as an important step in creating a sustainable and collaborative culture to care for irreplaceable cultural heritage collections statewide.

The first event, Building a Culture — Collections Care in Hawai’i, is an HMA annual meeting post-conference workshop. It will take place on Saturday, May 22nd at Bishop Museum (Paki Hall Rooms I & II) from 9:00 – 1:30 pm. The workshop is free but those who wish to attend need to register in advance:

< http://www.hawaiimuseums.org/HMAinfo_annualconf.htm >

The interactive presentation will identify preservation needs faced by diverse collections throughout the islands, and examine common issues. Lynn Davis and the project facilitator, Barclay Ogden (University of California Berkeley), will conduct the workshop.

The Hawai‘i grant has been cited as being groundbreaking for bringing together people responsible for caring for cultural heritage collections from diverse institutions on all islands. This is an innovative model for building a sustainable response to collection care issues. A survey will be conducted as part of the grant, and a report of the findings will be made at a second workshop in January 2011.

This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas.

For more information, contact Teri Skillman at skillman@hawaii.edu or by calling (808) 956-8688.