(rshsdepot) Corinth, MS

["James Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

-From the North Mississippi Daily Journal...

Tuesday, April 24, 2001
Northeast Miss. Museum gets grant for depot project

By Jane Clark Summers

Daily Journal Corinth Bureau

CORINTH - The Northeast Mississippi Museum has been awarded a $6,370 grant
-From the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The $480 match
required to receive the funds will be provided by the Corinth Area Tourism
and Promotion Council's 2000 Enhancement Preservation grant program.

The IMLS grant was part of $819,290 awarded to 147 small museums throughout
the nation.

Museum director Kristy White said the grant money will be used to employ an
architectural assessor and a preservation assessor.

The architectural assessor will study conditions at the historic Corinth
Depot which will become the new headquarters for the museum when renovations
are complete. The assessor will report on work needed to prepare the depot
for housing the museum and its collection, White said.

The conservation assessor will look at the collection at the present museum
location and will give advice on how to better preserve certain items, she
said. The conservator will also lend advice on how best to move the
collection when the time comes, White said.

Both assessors, who are from Nashville, will be in Corinth in late August to
do the work. During a two-day visit, the assessors will review the overall
condition of the museum's collection, the physical storage and exhibition
conditions as well as collection practices.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for the museum," White said. "In
anticipation for the move to the depot, the museum wants to make sure that
everything in its power is done to ensure that the museum's collection is
properly handled and that the depot will be ready to house the museum and
its items."


Conservation program

The Conservation Assessment Program helps museums lay the groundwork for
effective collections management. The assessment helps museums establish
goals so their holdings can be preserved and made available to the public
for years to come.

The Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services grants are administered
by Heritage Preservation. These grants support museums of all kinds, from
art to zoos.

"As a leader in preventative conservation, IMLS is dedicated to helping our
nation's museums protect their collections," said Beverly Sheppard on behalf
of the agency.

According to a recent evaluation of the Conservation Assessment Program by
Bosma and Associates International, these grants have had an impact on
increasing conservation awareness nationwide, Sheppard said. "Additionally,
95 percent of the grant recipients report fulfilling some or most of the
conservation assessment recommendations," she said.


Helping the little guy

The conservation program has helped about 2,000 small museums across the
nation receive professional conservation and preservation assistance and
move forward to improve the care of their collections and historic
buildings, Sheppard said.

Heritage Preservation's Larry Roger said, "As the Bosma evaluation
demonstrated, without IMLS funding, many of these museums could not afford
to get this essential conservation advice."

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