It’s home to so much West Seattle history – cared for with the help of volunteers and donations – all in a historic-by-itself log house on Alki. Now the Log House Museum has announced it’s been awarded some vital assistance in caring for its collection – read on for the news release:

Treasured objects and artifacts held by the Log House Museum will be
preserved for future generations with help from the IMLS Connecting to Collections
Bookshelf, a core set of conservation books and online resources donated by the
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). IMLS has now awarded almost 3,000
free sets of the IMLS Bookshelf, in cooperation with the American Association for
State and Local History (AASLH).

“The Connecting to Collections bookshelf is another great resource that the Log
House Museum and SWSHS can utilize for better preservation and collections care,”
said Director Andrea Mercado.

“When IMLS launched this initiative to improve the dire state of our nation’s
collections, we understood that the materials gathered for the Bookshelf would serve
as important tools for museums, libraries, and archives nationwide,” said
Anne-Imelda Radice, Director of IMLS. “We were both pleased and encouraged by the
overwhelming interest of institutions prepared to answer the call to action, and we
know that with their dedication, artifacts from our shared history will be preserved
for future generations.”

The Log House Museum will receive this essential set of resources based on an
application describing the needs and plans for the care of its collections. The IMLS
Bookshelf focuses on collections typically found in art or history museums and in
libraries’ special collections, with an added selection of texts for zoos, aquaria,
public gardens, and nature centers. It addresses such topics as the philosophy and
ethics of collecting, collections management and planning, emergency preparedness,
and culturally specific conservation issues.

The IMLS Bookshelf is a crucial component of Connecting to Collections: A Call to
Action, a conservation initiative that the Institute launched in 2006. IMLS began
the initiative in response to a 2005 study it released in partnership with Heritage
Preservation, A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State
of America’s Collections. The multi-faceted, multi-year initiative shines a
nationwide spotlight on the needs of America’s collections, especially those held by
smaller institutions, which often lack the human and financial resources necessary
to adequately care for their collections.

You can visit the Log House Museum Thursdays-Sundays, noon-4 pm – it’s at 61st/Stevens (map).