THANK YOU to the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) and the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) for the opportunity to distribute 8 Collections Recovery Kits to our COSTEP MA community! Made possible by their Emergency Microgrant program.

COSTEP MA Exec Board invited interested cultural institutions to complete the following:

  • 1.  Subscribe to our Email list.
  • 2. Create a listing in the Mass Emergency Management Agency’s Cultural Heritage Facilities Survey (arcgis.com).
  • 3. Write a short note (at least 1 paragraph) to COSTEP MA about your institution’s disaster risks and how the disaster kit may help. To post it on our blog, photographs welcome.
  • 4. Join at least 1 COSTEP MA Exec Board meeting to say hello.

Another awardee that satisfied the requirements is the Lynnfield Public Library! Thank you and Congrats! Below is their note about their disaster risks and how the Kit may help.

Their Head of Reference writes:

The Lynnfield Public Library is susceptible to flooding in our basement area due to our proximity to a stream. This stream runs through a culvert that routinely backs up and overflows into the back parking lot adjacent to the building. The basement houses our adult fiction & mystery collections, storage for our Friends organization, and building mechanicals. Over the last two decades we have had two major floods that damaged collections and mechanicals such as the elevator.

Sewage, water, and fire suppression system pipes run through the ceiling over parts of these collections. The janitor’s closet – which contains a water heater, faucet, and slop sink – is located on the first floor over part of the fiction collection in the basement. Sewage back-ups and overflow from the janitor’s closet have caused two major instances of collection damage.

Our Genealogy Room collection recently sustained damage from fire suppression system malfunctions: this led to water & mold damage on several books. The mold damage was severe and the items had to be discarded. (The suppression system developed a slow leak in a poorly lit, rarely used corner of the genealogy room, so damage was not discovered immediately. Please see attached pictures.) I used materials from a disaster recovery kit to protect parts of the collection from additional water damage while the pipe was repaired.