For decades, the Pratt Museum has maintained a research library for students and researchers to study the museum’s focus: Kachemak Bay culture, science and art. It includes books and historical archives collected since opening in 1968.
But, Executive Director Whitney Harness said, it’s also got more than 500 outdated books on the niche subjects of fundraising and museum administration cluttering the shelves.
“We don't really need to keep many of those. … So that is one of the biggest areas that we're trying to streamline — streamline our resources and make room for new resources,” Harness said.
That way, she said, resources in the library can focus on providing hyper-local information and community history.
“We want to make sure that we're documenting and preserving community history, which helps to foster community identity.”
The project costs $7,500. The Homer Foundation awarded the museum a $5,000 grant to help cover staff time to develop a collections policy for intentionally acquiring and removing library materials in line with the museum’s mission.
Harness said community members often donate items like old yearbooks and photographs. While those materials may not fit the museum’s permanent collection, they can still support research and expand the community archive.
She said the library serves longtime residents and newcomers.
“Especially as we have more families moving into the area who are curious about the history of Homer. And then also, on the flip side, we have a lot of long-time families who are either having the younger generation move out of state or passing on and losing some of those memories,” Harness said.
The project also includes adding a computer workstation and upgrading a projector so groups can view digital materials together.
The museum will sell the books it’s retiring from its collections during a community fundraiser in May. Staff will reintroduce the library during an open house at the end of March.
