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Riley County Historical Museum reports steady attendance, large deaccession plan and staffing changes
Summary
Catherine Huntsler reported October visitation near average, about 234 volunteer hours, ongoing Wolf Studio cleanout and a planned deaccession of more than 1,000 items; museum to recruit a contract registrar for 2026 and will hold a farewell for a long-serving assistant.
Catherine Huntsler, director of the Riley County Historical Museum, gave the commission a monthly staff update on Oct. and recent activities. She reported that October visitation and program attendance was about average for the season, and that volunteer and board hours totaled roughly 234 for the month (181 volunteer hours plus about 52.5 board hours). Huntsler said the Pioneer Log Cabin closed for the season and the museum will reopen it in April.
Huntsler described ongoing work at the Wolf Studio, a historical society-owned property, where staff have been cleaning and identifying accession items, moving items to off-site storage and preparing for a large-scale deaccession the society approved; the deaccession will include over 1,000 items once paperwork is complete. She said the historical societyboard has discussed hiring a contract registrar in 2026 to help process backlog and that the registrar position would be funded by the society rather than the county.
Huntsler also announced that one as-needed museum assistant, Lisa Jones, will retire with a last day of Nov. 19; the museum will attempt to cover shifts with volunteers and consider posting the position in early 2026 if necessary. Huntsler invited commissioners and the public to a farewell event on Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.
Next steps: museum to continue Wolf Studio processing, coordinate deaccession paperwork with the historical society, and recruit/triage staffing as needed.
