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 Shrewsbury Public Library! Thank you and Congrats! Below is their note about their disaster risks and how the Kit may help.

Their Assistant Director writes:

The Shrewsbury Public Library, located at the center of Shrewsbury in the heart of central Massachusetts, is one of the busiest libraries in the state, hosting an average of 1,000 visitors per day and circulating an average of 350,000 items per year.  The library’s collection consists of over 200,000 items, of which more than 100,000 are print items.  On the library’s second floor is the Ward Room, a small space that houses the original collection of Artemas Ward, descendant of Revolutionary War General Artemas Ward, as well as several hundred additional volumes relevant to local history.  While all of the library’s collections are important, in the event of a disaster, these would be the items whose protection would be most prioritized.

The Shrewsbury Public Library has been very fortunate in recent years to have had the opportunity to construct a new, state-of-the-art facility, and as such is well positioned to resist threats from the elements.  That being said, a major aspect of any real disaster is its unpredictability, and as the staff of the library take preservation of its collections very seriously, there is always a need for preparedness.  Central Massachusetts is no stranger to intense storms, whether they be hurricanes or blizzards, and with climate change only increasing the frequency and intensity of such storms, the Disaster Recovery Kit awarded to the library by COSTEP provides some very welcome peace of mind.