Finding Funds for Preservation
Originally presented May 5, 2009.
With Library of Congress’ Chief of Conservation, Diane Vogt-O’Conner. Preserving our collections so they may be made accessible through time is a core activity of all cultural repositories. Lately, librarians, archivists, and special collections curators are finding it increasingly challenging to find resources for preservation and conservation due to budget cut-backs, downsizing, and tough financial times. Many professionals do not realize that with a bit of creativity and some planning, there are many sources of preservation funds you may tap. This Webinar focuses on a wide variety of funding sources that repository staff may use to fund preservation evaluations and surveys, treatment and collections stabilization work, preservation reformatting work, collections management, and emergency response funds. Focusing on federal, state, local, and international sources, this webinar explains the range of funding options available, tells you how to identify your likeliest sources, and explains the most successful strategies and tactics for obtaining funding.
Archive viewing options:
- View in Wimba Classroom (combined archive of audio, slides and chat)
- View the slides (png)
- View Chat log (xls)
- See also attached: What Foundations Gave To Preservation Between 2004-2009 and What the Federal Foundations Fund
Learn more on this topic:
- Explore related WebJunction courses in the Course Catalog including:
Capturing History: Digitization Projects (LE@D)
If you are affiliated with a WebJunction Partner, be sure to access these courses via your affiliation's course catalog to take full advantage of many free and reduced-priced courses. For more information on affiliations, see the User Guide.
- Explore other WebJunction resources on this topic:
Processing and Preservation topic area
Funding topic area
Fundraising and philanthropy during an economic crisis from the Foundation Center
- Join the Discussion and see also this new discussion: Submissions Wanted: Library Grant Success Stories!
- Explore other related links:
Library of Congress, Preservation Resources
Preserving Treasures After a Disaster: http://www.loc.gov/preserv/familytreasures/ftpreserv.html
Caring for Your Collections (for Librarians, Archivists, and Curators): http://www.loc.gov/preserv/careothr.html
Preparing, Protecting, Preserving Family Treasures:
http://www.loc.gov/preserv/familytreasures/index.html
Digital Preservation: http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/
Other Preservation Resources: http://www.loc.gov/preserv/othresou.html
National Parks Service: Save America's Treasures
National Archives and Records Administration
State Historical Records Advisory Board and Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records
Heritage Emergency National Task Force, created by Heritage Preservation and FEMA
Foundation Grants for Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums, 2009 Edition
Non-profit grant writing guides
Writing A Successful Grant Proposal, an online tutorial from the Minnesota Council on Foundations
Fundraising and Grant writing Resources from Fundsnet Services
Preservation 101 course: http://unfacilitated.preservation101.org/loggedin.asp (Presented by the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC))
Digital Imaging Tutorial from the Cornell University Library: http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/tutorial/contents.html
Happy May 5th!
Why are we discussing Preservation Funding on this Revolutionary Day?
Happy May 5th!
Why are we discussing Preservation Funding on this Revolutionary Day?
Library, Archival, and Museum Preservation need a Revolution!
According to the Heritage Health Index, the first comprehensive survey of national preservation needs, in the U.S. we have 30,000 repositories (such as Libraries, Archives, Museums, and Historical Societies) that manage 4.8 billion collections items.
Of these, 4.8 billion items, 2.6 billion items are at high risk due to a lack of emergency plans and staff trained to carry the plan out.
80% of U.S. repositories lack emergency plans. We saw how poorly repositories without plans fared during Hurricane Katrina.
65% have damage to collections due to improper storage,
70% lack a current assessment of their collections condition, so are unaware of how much they may be loosing,
80% have no paid staff dedicated to collections care,
70% need additional preservation training for staff,
77% provide no funding for preservation in their budgets,
Of the few that do allocate funds, 68% allocate < 3,000 annually,
This sad story--captured by IMLS and HP in the HHI survey-- is why the LC is offering this workshop and why the LC has partnered with the Foundation Center to produce a free downloadable 125 page Guide to Foundation Funding Sources on Preservation to help you find funds.
Getting inside funding for preservation is both desirable and hard in these tough times. Successful outside fundraising may convince your management that:
1. Preservation is a core repository activity that ultimately pays off in longer collections life expectancy—not a black hole for funding, and
2. If outside experts value and fund preservation in your repository, the repository should as well.
That’s revolutionary. Please join me in finding funds for preservation!
