Next week, four representatives from each state and the District of Columbia will converge on Washington, D.C., to attend the groundbreaking Connecting to Collections: The National Conservation Summit. At the summit, outstanding speakers will share their conservation expertise, information on technological advances, and guidance on connecting with the public and funders. Just as important as the presentations is the opportunity for summit participants to network and to begin making plans with their colleagues.

Our conservation movement is gathering momentum. I hope that all of the hardworking people in our nation’s museums, libraries, and archives will share the message on the pressing need for conservation and preservation. Conservation is more than a nicety. I’m reminded of the scene in Steinbeck’s great novel The Grapes of Wrath when the Joads must decide what to take and what to leave in their exodus from Oklahoma.

“The women sat among the doomed things, turned them over and looking past them and back. This book. My father had it. He liked a book. Pilgrim’s Progress. Used to read it. Got his name in it. And his pipe, still smells rank. And this picture, an angel. I looked at that before the fust three come, didn’t seem to do much good. Think we could get this china dog in? Aunt Sadie brought it from the St. Louis Fair. See? Wrote right on it. No, I guess not. Here’s a letter my brother wrote the day before he died. Here’s an old-time hat. These feathers, never got used to them. No, there isn’t room. How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?”

Like this fictional family, we as members of the larger community must decide what we will save. When people ask why we should fund conservation, we should tell them that our old books, angel paintings, and feathered hats carry our stories forward in time and without our stories we lose sight of who we are and who we can become.

Also at the summit will be Jordan Kruger, 13, and Emily Walker, 12, from Girl Scout Troop 4563 in Arlington, VA, who will be making presentations on summit participants’ unique collections. At IMLS’ invitation, the scouts and six others in the troop contacted summit participants, interviewed them about their unique collections, and wrote articles that are profiled in Primary Source and posted on IMLS’ Web site.

- Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Ph.D., Director, IMLS

“Grant Opportunities from the Institute of Museum and Library Services,” Christopher J. Reich, Senior Program Officer, Federal Funding Conference, Museo y Centro Estudios Humanisticos, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico, June 11-15.

"Partnering with Libraries & Museums," Abby Swetz, Program Specialist, The Big Read National Orientation Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, June 19-20.

"Cyberinfrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences--Advancing the Humanities Research Agenda," panel discussion, Joyce Ray, Associate Deputy Director for Library Services," Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 20-22.

"Digital Stewardship," Joyce Ray, Associate Deputy Director for Library Services, American Library Association Preservation Conference, Washington, DC, June 24.