Florence Ranch Homestead Receives Conservation Bookshelf

Treasured objects and artifacts once owned by the David W. Florence family, now on display at the Florence Ranch Homestead, will be preserved for future generations with help from the IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf, a set of conservation books, DVDs, and online resources donated by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of federal funding of the nation’s museums and libraries. IMLS and its cooperator, the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), will award a total of 3,000 free sets of the IMLS Bookshelf by the end of 2009.

“We are so excited to be chosen as one of the institutions to receive this gift,” said Charlene Orr, executive director of Historic Mesquite, Inc., the managing organization of the city’s historical museum system. “With a small staff and budget, it is hard to amass such a collection of information. The Bookshelf will allow us to continue our mission of properly conserving artifacts that tell the story of Mesquite and its pioneering families.”

Anne-Imelda Radice, director of IMLS, said, “We are very pleased to announce the recipients of the IMLS Bookshelf in the second round of competition. These libraries, museums, and archives are in the forefront of our call to action on behalf of America’s collections,” “According to a recent national survey, our important collections are at great risk, and without them, the American story simply cannot be told to future generations.”

The Florence Ranch Homestead is being awarded this 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 history or art 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.

According to Historic Mesquite, 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 by Heritage Preservation documenting the dire state of the nation’s collections. The multifaceted, multiyear 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. For more information on the conservation initiative, please go to www.imls.gov/collections.

The Florence Ranch Homestead is located at 1424 Barnes Bridge Road. It is open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, noon to 4 p.m.; Wednesdays, 1 to 5 p.m.; and the second and fourth Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For larger tours or further information, the Florence Ranch phone number is (972) 613-7547.

The Florence Ranch Homestead and Opal Lawrence Historical Park, 701 E. Kearney St., make up the City of Mesquite’s Historical Museums System.

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