National Library of Australia - Gateways>

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 48| December 2000


Expansion of Community Heritage Grants

The successful applicants for the 2000 Community Heritage Grants were announced by the Hon. Peter McGauran, Minister for the Arts at a ceremony held at the National Library on 15 November. The program has been expanded this year, with 32 community groups receiving funding, up from 22 last year.

The successful applicants represent each State and Territory, and are from a diverse range of community groups. Organisations receiving funding this year include the Sydney Jewish Museum, the Australian Refugee Association (SA), the Wangaratta Historical Society and Geraldton Regional Library.

Community Heritage Grants have been awarded since 1994 for preservation projects on nationally significant documentary heritage collections. Funds are provided for preservation surveys, storage materials, training, digitising and conservation treatments.

In line with the increase in the total amount of grant funds, the preservation workshop program for recipients of the grants has also expanded, with sessions held at the Library over two days. The workshops cover general preservation knowledge, determining significance of collections, making collections accessible through the Internet, as well as preservation workshops relevant to specific collections. The preservation workshops, presented by National Library Preservation Services staff, are a central part of the grant process.

Feedback from past recipients has shown a number of benefits for an organisation when receiving the grant. Organisations find they are more likely to gain extra funding from other sources following the grant project, they get publicity for their collections and they form networks with other grant recipients, helping in the overall care of their valuable collection items.

The 2001 Community Heritage Grants application forms will be available on the web site in late February, or contact the coordinator Alex Philp on (02) 6262 1147.

Details of this year’s successful applicants, as well all the recipients since 1994 can be found at www.nla.gov.au/chg.
—Alex Philp

Recipients of the 2000 CHG at the NLA

The Hon. Peter McGauran, Minister for the Arts and Centenary of Federation
(first from the left) and Jan Fullerton, National Library Director-General
(second from the left) with the recipients of the 2000 Community Heritage Grants at the National Library

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |

Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au

Gateways logo