Environmental Management and Emergency Preparedness Training
FAIN: PG-263487-19
Old Sturbridge, Inc. (Sturbridge, MA 01566-1138)
Caitlin Emery Avenia (Project Director: April 2018 to March 2021)
Engaging preventive care specialists from the Northeast Document Conservation Center to
assess climate control capabilities and provide recommendations on emergency
preparedness. The collection, which documents everyday life in rural New
England before the Civil War, holds approximately 50,000 items related to daily
life, from clothing to furniture, household items, and agricultural tools. The
research library has more than 35,000 volumes and 1,000 linear feet of
manuscript material such as periodicals and the records of families,
businesses, towns, and counties.
The Old Sturbridge Village Museum Collection and Research Library represent one of the single largest holding of materials documenting everyday life in rural New England prior to the Civil War. The Village’s significant collections illuminate the rich history of the fashion, ideas, technologies, and everyday lives of rural New Englanders. The scope of this project is to address collections stewardship practices within the Collections Building, Research Library, and Archives, with respect to the proper environmental standards, emergency preparedness, and mold mitigation. The primary goal of this grant is to utilize the expert knowledge preventative care specialists at the Northeast Document Conservation Center to assess our climate control capabilities, and provide recommendations to better manage the particular risks associated with our collection environments and review our emergency preparedness policies and practices, including providing mold identification and remediation training.