Discover Giles County Historical Society article from the Virginian Leader, June 23, 2010
The Giles County Historical Society is a member of the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM). VAM (www.vamuseums.org) has over 1,000 members focused in the Virginia and Washington, DC area and brings together this museum community to further education and training, foster development, and provide support for museums and museum staff. For small museums with small budgets, like the Historical Society, the support of VAM and the expertise available to us through its many members and staff is invaluable.
Last week, VAM offered a 3-day Fundamentals Forum and Collections “Boot Camp” at Virginia Tech that Historical Society staff members were fortunate enough to attend. Classes were taught by Virginia museum professionals with many years of expertise as executive directors, curators, exhibit designers, grant writers, museum educators, and jacks-of-all-trades. Many were from small museums with small staffs and small budgets and were familiar with the many jobs each of us must perform everyday to keep a museum running. Topics in the Fundamentals Forum included daily museum operations, outreach and partnerships, annual fund and membership, school programs, technology and social media, financial management, volunteer management, and others. The Collections “Boot Camp” included hands-on exercises working with collection items including a trip to the Virginia Tech Museum of Geosciences, exhibit design, and less glamorous topics such as creating a collections policy, archives management, and deaccessioning.
The VAM Fundamentals Forum and Collections “Boot Camp” were made possible through a generous grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS). Both of these organizations have been under increasing scrutiny as state and federal budgets are tightened. However, their support was crucial for making this program possible and affordable for small institutions like the Giles County Historical Society to attend and experience an unforgettable and intense educational and networking opportunity that will ultimately strengthen our organization and move us closer to our goal of creating a professional 21st century museum.
The Giles County Historical Society is a member of the Virginia Association of Museums (VAM). VAM (www.vamuseums.org) has over 1,000 members focused in the Virginia and Washington, DC area and brings together this museum community to further education and training, foster development, and provide support for museums and museum staff. For small museums with small budgets, like the Historical Society, the support of VAM and the expertise available to us through its many members and staff is invaluable.
Last week, VAM offered a 3-day Fundamentals Forum and Collections “Boot Camp” at Virginia Tech that Historical Society staff members were fortunate enough to attend. Classes were taught by Virginia museum professionals with many years of expertise as executive directors, curators, exhibit designers, grant writers, museum educators, and jacks-of-all-trades. Many were from small museums with small staffs and small budgets and were familiar with the many jobs each of us must perform everyday to keep a museum running. Topics in the Fundamentals Forum included daily museum operations, outreach and partnerships, annual fund and membership, school programs, technology and social media, financial management, volunteer management, and others. The Collections “Boot Camp” included hands-on exercises working with collection items including a trip to the Virginia Tech Museum of Geosciences, exhibit design, and less glamorous topics such as creating a collections policy, archives management, and deaccessioning.
The VAM Fundamentals Forum and Collections “Boot Camp” were made possible through a generous grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS). Both of these organizations have been under increasing scrutiny as state and federal budgets are tightened. However, their support was crucial for making this program possible and affordable for small institutions like the Giles County Historical Society to attend and experience an unforgettable and intense educational and networking opportunity that will ultimately strengthen our organization and move us closer to our goal of creating a professional 21st century museum.
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