Historical Commission Agenda and Packet 2016 08 03 JT

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Page 25 of 150 • The Museum helps to publicize the Louisville History Book Club, which is a community book club. • The Museum reaches members of the public through other publications besides The Louisville Historian, such as a brochure on "How Well Do You Know Louisville?" and a brochure sponsored with the Historic Preservation Commission highlighting Louisville buildings on the National Register. (Plans are underway for an updated walking tour brochure.) • The Museum serves the public through historical programs, such as: o Evening programs at the Library o Brown Bag presentations or discussions quarterly (based on the topic of the lead article of the previous Louisville Historian) held at the Library o Summer walking tours led by volunteers o A 2014 driving tour of locations relating to 1914 Hecla Mine strike conflict that was received positively • In addition to school tours on site, the Museum has begun a program of outreach to elementary schools with a particular focus on hands-on telephones. VII. Overview of the Collections and What is Collected The Museum Collections The Museum collections consist of the permanent collection, the education collection, and the reference collection. These collections and procedures relating to the collections, and the Museum's scope statement, are further described in the Collections Management Policy located in the Appendices. Among the highest priority items to add to the permanent collection are historic photos depicting life in Louisville. The Museum also collects Louisville newspapers, which give valuable insights into Louisville events and people. It is extremely unfortunate for the community that the Louisville Times in 1942 disposed of all of its past issues. For this reason, the limited number of pre -1942 Louisville newspapers that have been donated to the Museum are especially treasured. Fortunately, in 2014, Prairie Mountain Publishing donated bound volumes of The Louisville Times from 1942 to 2007 to the Museum and they are currently being housed at the Library. The Museum and Library staff is developing procedures to allow public access to the fragile bound volumes while preserving the newspapers and is exploring the possibility of seeking permission from the copyright owner and funding so that they may be digitized. Other items that are much larger than photos are frequently offered as donations to the Museum. The Museum staff and Louisville Historical Commission work together to decide what is possible to be accepted into the permanent collection. The availability of adequate storage space and whether the proffered items fit within the scope and mission of the Museum are major considerations in deciding whether items can be accepted. Even after the completion of Museum campus improvements that include dedicated collections storage space and the creation of increased exhibit space, the Museum staff and the Commission will by necessity have to take a conservative approach. Museum staff can also consider recommending the deaccessioning of items that meet the criteria set forth in the Collections Management Policy. (More information about collections storage appears under the following section of "Strengths and Challenges of the Site.") Museum staff and volunteers regularly work on the cataloging process whereby more items are cataloged in the PastPerfect system. It will be important to conduct an inventory of the permanent 17