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Northampton CPC approves $3,000 for Forbes Library textile conservation assessment
Summary
The Northampton Community Preservation Committee voted to recommend a $3,000 small-grant award to Forbes Library to fund a professional assessment of textiles in its Coolidge and local-history collections; one committee member abstained.
The Northampton Community Preservation Committee on Feb. 26 voted to recommend a $3,000 small-grant award to Forbes Library to pay for a professional assessment of textile items in its Calvin Coolidge Museum collection and the library’s local-history holdings.
The money will pay a conservator from Museum Textile Services of Andover to inspect garments, T-shirts and related textiles to determine condition, rehousing needs and suitability for exhibit, committee members heard. Lisa Downing, director of the Forbes Library, said the library “is excited to submit this application” and called the CPC small-grant program “much easier” for projects of that scale.
Julie Bartlett Nelson, head of the Calvin Coolidge Museum, said the assessment will help staff decide which Coolidge items are “stable enough to put on exhibit” and will inform the Coolidge Museum redesign now underway. Dylan Gaffney, who manages local-history and archives at Forbes, described recent collecting of 1970s–1990s cultural materials — including Iron Horse and Hampshire Pride shirts — that the library wants to preserve intact and make available for display and research.
The CPC’s small-grant program caps eligibility at modest dollar amounts; committee staff said Forbes’ total project budget is $5,000 and the library requested $3,000 from the CPC. Sarah (staff member) noted that the library has already invested in climate control and storage upgrades and that professional conservation is the next step.
On a roll-call vote the committee recommended the full $3,000 request. Votes recorded: Jeff — yes; Devin — abstain; Julia — yes; Martha — yes; Kevin — yes; Chris Tate — yes; Chris Hellman — yes; Brian — yes. The motion passed; yes 7, abstain 1.
Forbes representatives said the assessment would support exhibit planning, safe rehousing of fragile items and possible collaborations with Historic Northampton and other local venues. The library also has digital photographs of many objects in its collections database, staff said, but welcomed an in-person conservator review before increased public display.
The committee asked staff to notify applicants of next steps and to log the funding recommendation for the city budgeting process.
