General Preservation Assessment for the Richard H. Handley Collection of Long Island Americana (or Long Island Room)

FAIN: PG-50912-10

Smithtown Special Library District (Smithtown, NY 11787-2142)
Catherine Riggio Ball (Project Director: May 2009 to September 2011)

Funding supports a general preservation assessment of a collection focused on Long Island, New York City, lower Connecticut, colonial New England, and the local history of Smithtown. It includes books, maps, atlases, documents, scrapbooks, ephemera, and artifacts. The consultant will also make recommendations for the purchase of preservation supplies and the housing of collection materials.

The Smithtown Special Library District's Richard H. Handley Collection of Long Island Americana (or Long Island Room) seeks to have a general preservation assessment of its humanities collection performed by a professional preservation consultant. This assessment will establish long-range goals for the collection's overall maintenance and care by identifying and prioritizing the specific areas of the collection that are in need of the most attention. Additionally, this assessment will outline suggested storage techniques for the collection's new facility, which is part of a major renovation project the library plans to start in the summer/ fall of 2009. If funded, this assessment would go a long way towards ensuring the protection and preservation of our valuable humanities materials for future generations.