Northeast Document Conservation CenterNortheast Document Conservation Center
 

funding

federal sources

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

1800 M Street NW, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20036-5841
(202) 653-4657
(202) 653-4600 Fax
www.imls.gov

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) supports all types of museums, from art and history to science and zoos, and all types of libraries and archives, from public and academic to research and schools. Eligibility requirements differ for each library and museum program. Programs include:

Conservation Project Support Grants
ANNUAL DEADLINE: October 1st

Conservation Project Support grants help museums develop and implement a logical, institution-wide approach to caring for their living and material collections. Applicants should apply for the project that meets one of the institution’s highest conservation needs. All applications must demonstrate that the primary goal of the project is conservation care and not collection management or maintenance. Applicants may receive up to $10,000 in additional project funding to develop an Education Component that directly relates to their project.

Grants are available for five broad types of conservation activities: (1) surveys (general, detailed condition, or environmental), (2) training, (3) research, (4) treatment, and (5) environmental improvements. An institution may submit one application each fiscal year. For more information go to http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/conservProject.shtm.

Conservation Assessment Program (CAP)
ANNUAL DEADLINE: December 1st

The general conservation assessment (unlike a detailed collection survey) provides an overview of all of the museum’s collections as well as its environmental conditions and policies and procedures relating to collections care. Visit the Web site for further information.

Connecting to Collections: Statewide Planning Grants
DEADLINE: October 15th

Statewide Planning Grants are aimed at fostering effective partnerships among organizations that have a strong commitment to the collections stewardship goals of a given state, commonwealth, or territory. IMLS invites proposals for statewide, collaborative planning grants to address the following recommendations: providing safe conditions for collections, developing an emergency plan, assigning responsibility for collection care, and marshaling public and private support for and awareness about collections care. Grant amounts for the two-year program are up to $40,000.

For more information on these IMLS grants, contact:

Christine Henry
Senior Program Officer
202-653-4674
or chenry@imls.gov

Bank of America/IMLS American Heritage Preservation Program DEADLINE: September 15, 2008

The American Heritage Preservation Program is a new public-private partnership between the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. This program is designed to fund the preservation of endangered and fragile collections of works of art, rare books, scientific specimens and historical documents (photographs, maps, deeds, etc.) held in the nation’s small and medium sized museums, archives and libraries.

This partnership builds on the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action, a multi-year, multi-pronged initiative to raise public awareness and inspire action on the care of America’s collections. That initiative implements recommendations of an IMLS-supported study, A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections, which found that nearly 190 million objects in U.S. collections are in immediate danger of deterioration and need restoration or conservation.

These awards are for up to $3,000. Generally, project activities supported by the grants may be carried out for up to two years, and there is no match requirement.

Allowable expenses include:

  • Treatment materials and supplies
  • Collections storage materials such as acid-free boxes and folders, mylar sleeves
  • Project personnel, contract, or in-house staff time necessary for the proper and efficient execution of the project
  • Project consultants and their travel
  • Repair and stabilization activities that are directly related to the project

For more information: http://www.imls.gov/collections/grants/boa.htm
Or contact:

Christine Henry
Senior Program Officer
202-653-4674
or chenry@imls.gov

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Division of Preservation and Access
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Rm. 802
Washington, DC 20506
(202) 606-8570 
www.neh.gov

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government, dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.

Division of Preservation and Access programs include:

Preservation Assistance Grants — For Smaller Institutions
DEADLINE PASSED

The focus of this program is to promote preservation planning and preservation activities within the country’s smaller institutions.

The Preservation Assistance Grants program awards grants of up to $6,000 on a non-matching basis to support the preservation of materials in libraries, archives, museums, and historical organizations.

Activities that can be supported through a Preservation Assistance Grant include:

  • General preservation and conservation surveys
  • Consultations with preservation professionals to develop a plan to address a specific preservation problem, including digital preservation issues
  • Attendance at preservation workshops, now including training in Best Practices for Digitization

Note: 2008 Preservation Assistance Grant applications will only be accepted through Grants.gov, the government-wide grants portal.

Visit the NEH Web site for more information.


Preservation and Access: Humanities Collections and Resources DEADLINE: July 31, 2008  (for projects beginning May 2009)

This grant combines support for activities that were funded previously through two separate grant categories: Grants to Preserve and Create Access to Humanities Collections, and Reference Materials Grants. The program also provides support for activities funded previously through the Division’s Research and Development category.

The possibilities presented by advances in digital technology require a new grant category that encompasses the range of activities funded through the previous programs and encourages the development of digital methods and tools to increase the availability and long-tern preservation of humanities collections and resources.

Eligible activities include: 

  • Digitizing collections
  • Arranging collections of printed works, photographs, recorded sound, moving image, art, and material culture
  • Preservation reformatting, microfilming
  • Deacidification of collections
  • Preserving and improving access to Humanities resources in “born digital” form

For complete information, visit www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/Collections_and_Resources.html
or call 202-606-8570.

Preservation and Access Education and Training Grants
DEADLINE PASSED

Grants are made to support regional preservation field services that provide surveys, consultations, workshops, reference services, and informational materials to the staff of institutions responsible for the care of humanities collections.

NEH Emergency Flood Assistance grants for the Midwest,
June 2008

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced it will provide $1 million in Emergency Flood Assistance Grants for museums, libraries, archives, universities and other cultural and historical institutions in federally designated disaster areas affected by the floods in the Midwest.

Applicants should contact the Division of Preservation and Access by email (preservation@neh.gov) or by telephone (202/606-8570) to describe the humanities collections at risk and the nature of the damage. The Division’s staff will guide prospective applicants in the preparation of a letter of request to NEH Chairman Bruce Cole.

View the complete press release at: http://www.neh.gov/Flood_Assistance.html

National Endowment for the Arts

1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
(202) 682-5400
www.nea.gov

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts — both new and established — bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. (Watch the NEA Web site for details of the next grant cycle.)

Save America's Treasures
 DEADLINE PASSED
Web site: http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/treasures/index.htm

The National Park Service, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, is seeking applicants for its Save America’s Treasures 2008 grant program.

Grants will be awarded to preserve collections of national significance. Grants for conservation and preservation projects will be awarded on a competitive basis, so start your application now!

The proposed grant amounts will range from $25,000 for collections and up to $700,000 on a 1:1 matching basis.

How can NEDCC help?

NEDCC can generate estimates and help with descriptions of the condition of collections. To discuss a grant project, contact Walter Newman, (978) 470-1010 .

Please visit the National Park Service Web site for applications and guidelines.

Please discuss your project ideas with the staff of one of the partner agencies:

National Endowment for the Humanities Web site, Ralph Canevali, (202) 606-8475,

National Endowment for the Arts Web site, Michael McLaughlin, (202) 682-5457,

Institute of Museum and Library Sciences Web site: Steve Shwartzman, (202) 606-4641,

National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)

National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphia Road
College Park, MD 20740
(866) 272-6272
http://www.archives.gov

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), a statutory body affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration, supports a wide range of activities to preserve, publish, and encourage the use of documentary sources relating to the history of the United States.
ANNUAL DEADLINES: June 1 and October 1