Sandoz Center director invited to national summit

Only four representatives, two from museums and two from libraries, from each state and the District of Columbia have been selected to attend the invitation-only conference sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The conference will underscore the risks that endanger America’s books, works of art, documents, and other treasures and promote solutions for saving them.

“Those who have been selected to attend the summit have a strong commitment to conservation and are among the best people in the country to spearhead a national conservation initiative,” said Dr. Anne-Imelda Radice, IMLS director. “After the summit, we hope that the conversation about saving invaluable collections will continue in communities across the U.S.”

Participants in the meeting represent small and medium-sized museums, libraries, and historic organizations with a proven dedication and commitment to conservation. They will be joined at the meeting by national leaders in conservation, government officials, and leaders in private sector support for conservation.

The Sandoz Center opened in 2002 as a tribute to Nebraska author Mari Sandoz and to the High Plains region. Since its opening, the center has worked to preserve history by emphasizing not only Sandoz, but also American Indian issues and the cattle ranching industry of the High Plains. The center is also home to high-end large format digital scanning equipment. This equipment was donated to Chadron State College by Octavo Corporation for preservation projects.

Heritage Preservation, the national organization devoted to preserving America’s heritage, is cooperating with IMLS to organize the summit. Heritage Preservation’s 2005 report, “A Public Trust at Risk: the Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections,” revealed that 4.8 billion artifacts exist in the nation’s archives, libraries, museums and historical societies, many of these in small to medium sized towns and cities. The report said that 26 percent of collecting institutions have no controls by which to protect their valuable artifacts from temperature, humidity, and light; 59 percent have had their collections damaged by light and 53 percent have had damage by moisture. In addition the report showed that 65 percent of the country’s collecting institutions have experienced damage due to improper storage.

The conservation summit also will be supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation and by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The summit is being co-hosted by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.