Preservation in Massachusetts Libraries: Funding and Support for Preservation

LSTA Direct Grant Background: https://mblc.state.ma.us/programs-and-support/lsta-grants/application-index.php.

Grant Cateogires related to Preservation and Special Collection Management are listed below:

• Archives Arrangement and Description
• Go Local
• Managing Fine and Decorative Arts
• Protecting Priority Collections
• Open

Find out more about these categories from the following link: Current Grant Opportunities.

Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) provides guidance and support to Massachusetts institutions, organizations, and repositories that manage historical records. MA SHRAB helps share information among historical records repositories, provides training on archival topics, and administers programs to help preserve and provide access to archival materials. It serves as a the facilitator of selected National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grants and services in the Commonwealth. 

Programs currently available in support of preservation efforts at Massachusetts libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, and other cultural heritage organizations include:

• Massachusetts Roving Archivist Program
  Funded through a grant from the NHPRC, the Roving Archivist service is free to cultural heritage institutions statewide, including historical societies, museums, town clerks, historical commissions, special libraries, schools, community archives, and public libraries with local history collections. The Roving Archivist conducts a site visit, creates a Strategic Assessment and Program Review, and then develops a report of recommendations and resources customized to the needs of the institution. After the initial assessment, the roving archivist continues to engage with the institution, per request, for guidance on implementation, regrant funding, and additional connections within the Commonwealth's archival community. Additional information, including the application process and key program dates, is available on the SHRAB website.
   
• Veterans' Heritage Grants
  A program open to Massachusetts municipalities and non-profit organizations, such as libraries, historical societies and commissions, museums, schools, and universities, Veterans Heritage Grants provide matching funds of up to fifty percent (50%) of a project's total cost (applicants could apply for up to $15,000 per project in the most recent funding cycle) when relevant to veterans and their military encounters, and may include: Preservation or digitization of historic documents and photographs, improving access to archival collection, oral history projects, monument sand memorials restoration or renovation, and markers for historically significant sites. Additional information, including the application process and key program dates, is available on the SHRAB website.

Reading Frederick Douglass Together

Expand Massachusetts Stories