Minutes:
Dr. T. Eynon CC asked the following questions:-
(a)
“What
specific plans have been articulated to manage the collections affected by the
closure of Snibston Discovery Museum in accordance to
the best practice described in the Leicestershire Museums Collections
Management Framework 2015-2019?
(i)
How
will the formal review process determine the priorities for rationalisation and
disposal?
(ii)
How
will the process identify which collections are included and excluded from the
review?
(iii)
How
will the process ensure that the outcome of review and any subsequent
rationalisation does not “reduce the quality or significance of the collection”
and instead, as per the policy, “result(s) in a more useable, well managed
collection”?
(iv)
How
long is this process likely to take and what is the estimated cost?
(v)
How
will the process deal with the Sheepy Magna wheelwrights workshop and the collection that goes with it?
(vi)
What
is the estimated cost of dismantling and relocating the two beam engines? Which
authority, institution or other body is responsible for funding this process?
(b)
The
Collections Management Framework states “we believe that, alongside the
preservation of our rich heritage, access for everyone is the most important
thing that we can work to achieve.”
(i)
With
the closure of the 5,000 square metres of display space at Snibston,
how will the people of Leicestershire now be able to see their collections?
(ii)
LCC
“now hold the largest public collection of Palitoy
toys outside of London.” The Collections Management Framework includes
“continuing to add to the Palitoy collection with
particular reference to older and archive material.” Where will this collection
be displayed?
(c)
Over
95% of the collections have been received as offers of gift from local people,
communities, groups, companies and organisations held in trust for the people
of Leicestershire now, and for future generations.
The Collections Management
Framework states “it is vital that a sense of community ownership is
established through a system for managing the collections that everyone can
relate to.”
(i)
How
will donors of items held at Snibston be consulted
and/or informed regarding their future management?
(ii)
What
procedure will be followed for those items, interactives,
set-dressings and other exhibits donated to or created for the Snibston Museum that are not accessioned parts of the
collections? Will the donors or creators of such items be involved in their
disposal?
(d)
The
Collections Management Framework states “the stability of the environmental
conditions in which an object is kept is crucial to its long-term survival.”
Specifically, it states “a piece of costume would need a relative humidity of
50% with a variation of no more than 5%.
If these conditions cannot be achieved throughout the display or loan
area, then controlled display cases should be used.”
(i)
Where
will the NEXT textile collection be stored and how will the fabrics be
protected from deterioration?
(ii)
How
much will it cost to rehouse the collection and how will this be funded?
(e)
The
Leicestershire Museums Collections Management Framework 2015-2019 states that
“certain museum collections are designated for handling and support hands-on
learning services.”
(i)
What
proportion of these collections and services were housed at Snibston?
(ii)
What
will be the impact of the closure on these services?
(f)
The
Leicestershire Museums Collections Management Framework 2015-2019 states
“Responsible, curatorially motivated disposal takes
place as part of a museum’s long-term collections policy, in order to increase
public benefit derived from museum collections.” It also mandates officer to
“Seek the views of stakeholders (such as donors, researchers, local and source
communities and others served by the museum) who have a vested interest in a
proposed disposal.”
What challenges does the closure of Leicestershire’s largest Museum pose for
adherence to this policy?
(g)
A
Council report titled ‘STEAM trends 2009-12 Leicestershire Museums’ provided in
table form economic impact data for six Leicestershire Museums, including Snibston Discovery Museum, for the years 2009 to 2012.
What was the total economic impact of each Museum including tourist days,
tourist numbers, and employment supported for the years 2013 and 2014?”
Mrs. Camamile CC replied as follows:-
“ (a) The plans to manage the collections are in line with Cabinet decision of 14th
January 2015, which authorised the Director of Adults
and Communities to undertake an audit and condition assessment of the
collections currently at Snibston and where
relevant related collections held in other storage locations and to identify opportunities for the display of those
collections in alternative appropriate locations. The detail of how this will
be achieved is outlined in the response to questions below.
(i) The purpose of the audit and
review is not to develop priorities for rationalisation leading to disposal
programme, but to ensure that collections formerly on display can be moved to
new display or storage locations, or for items on loan to the service to be
returned to their owners, as per the particular loan conditions. The audit will
ensure that we have current and complete data in relation to the collections
that were on display including legal title, condition (as this will affect any
decisions on how these objects may be stored or allowed as loans to other
museums in the future) and any special factors, such as health and safety implications,
requirements for transportation and movement. If the audit and review of
collections identifies the need to rationalise by disposal then this will be a
distinct and additional process subject to the demands of the Museum
Accreditation Guidelines and County Council policy.
(ii) The process will include all
collections formerly on display and in store at the Snibston
site and where relevant related collections held in other storage locations.
For example, it is customary to store collections of a similar type together.
Therefore, if we were to move archaeological items, we would seek to store
these alongside other collections of the same type and may, in addition, need
to review those items too. We may have particular items on display in another venue
and there may be an opportunity, to move items around to improve exhibitions in
other areas. Some of the objects which were on display at Snibston
are from larger collections, or groups of objects that were donated or
purchased together. We would therefore review those objects in the context of
the objects being removed from display to make sure that the object groupings
remain coherent.
(iii) At this stage there are no
proposals for rationalisation leading to disposal. The information provided by
the audit will inform our overall understanding of the collections, collection
groups and specific items and how we manage collections in the future. Once we
have all of this information, this will inform decisions about priority areas,
any specific conservation needs pertaining to an object’s movement and future
location, and the possibilities for other accredited public museums to display
objects previously displayed at Snibston, so that the
public may continue to benefit from them. We currently do this with all of the
collections that are currently not on display in LCC and partner museums as
managed loans. It should be noted that, since the establishment of the Museums
Service in 1997, at any one time only a very small proportion (approx. 5%) of
the collections is on public display, although access is made available to
researchers and students.
(iv) We currently estimate that the audit will be
complete within 12 months. The expected costs of the audit, including returning
loaned items to owners and other items to storage locations was included
in the Cabinet report in January 2015 and is £440,000.
(v) The Wheelwrights workshop and its
collection will be included in the audit and review process. There are no
proposals to relocate the workshop as part of this process.
(vi) One of the beam engines is owned by the
City Council and one by the County Council. The specific costs associated with
the dismantling and relocating of the engines will be informed by the audit and
review process and are included within the overall costs for the audit and
review.
(b)
(i) The County Council continues to
make its collections accessible through its other museum venues. These are
Bosworth Battlefield; Charnwood Museum; Donington le
Heath Manor House; Harborough Museum; Melton Carnegie Museum. Collections are
also available to view, by appointment, at the Collections Resources Centre and
collections which are currently in storage at Snibston,
are already accessible in that way. We will continue to make our collections
accessible in these ways and increasingly our collections are available to view
online 24/7 via Image Leicestershire and an increasing number of other web
based platforms.
(ii) The whole of the Palitoy collection totals approximately 245 items, of these
42 objects were displayed in the Toy Box exhibition at Snibston.
In addition elements of the Palitoy collections are
included in displays at our museums. This collection is also used in the “Palitoy and the Toys that Shaped Our Childhoods” touring
exhibition which is one of the Service’s commercial touring exhibitions
available for hire by museums and other venues nationwide.
(c)
(i) When items are donated to the
County Council’s Museum collections, it is made clear that they are donated to the
Service and not to an individual site. Indeed any items which were displayed at
Snibston when it first opened in 1992 had been
donated by people to the Service and at other sites. We will, where possible
(given that our donor information may only pertain to the donor’s contact
details when the object was donated and, given that the Service has been
collecting since the middle of the C19th some of these donors may have died or,
if they were commercial businesses, ceased operation or moved from the address
that we have on file) contact donors when the audit is underway and engage them
in decisions over any objects which the Service needs to consult upon. It is
not normal practice to consult with donors when the service is moving objects
from display or exhibition into one of the collections centres or stores, as
this is a frequent occurrence and part of our normal work. If there is the
possibility to lend objects to other museums we will consult with donors (if
the above circumstances relating to contact information allows) to engage them
in this decision.
(ii) The majority of items described here have
been purchased by the County Council, sometimes with the support of an external
grant, it would not be normal practice to consult with
suppliers on subsequent disposal of items provided. In some cases these items
have been created as part of community projects and where possible we will
consult with community representatives or organisations to engage them in the
decision making. Where it is possible to reuse/recycle items within the County
Council we will do so. The disposal of non-collections assets will be led by
property services and a full audit of these items is
being produced in line with the County council’s procedures around asset
management. We have recorded contact details for organisations/individuals that
have expressed an interest in specific items that are not accessioned but still
hold personal or family importance.
(d)
(i) The Fashion Gallery at Snibston has only ever displayed a proportion of the NEXT
collection. The rest of the historic and contemporary collections, which have
no connection to the company, form the wider fashion collections held by the
Museum Service. The items currently displayed at Snibston
will be return to the Collections Resources Centre, where the rest of the
collection is housed and cared for. It will continue to be used by further and
higher education providers, individual researchers and for loan by other
museums and galleries as is current practice.
(ii) There were approximately 1,000 items in
the Fashion Gallery these all have an existing home location at CRC and will be
returned there. The costs for this are included within the audit and review.
(e)
(i) The majority of these collections
were moved to the management of our education service – Creative Learning
Services (formerly Museums Education and Library Services for Education) in
2012. These collections, which include
Artworks; Held in the Hand; Resource Box are not stored in the Snibston Galleries and will remain available to loan to
schools, colleges and community groups, including care homes.
(ii) The
closure of Snibston is not expected to have any
impact on the handling collections or their use.
(f) The County Council is not currently
proposing to dispose of items from the museum collections, as a result of the
decision to close Snibston.
Should this position change recommendations for disposals would be in
accordance the guidance set out in the Collections Management Framework.
(g) Communities and Wellbeing
commissioned a special report in 2012, which used data from the Steam report,
visitor figures from LCC Museums, including Snibston
and data from a visitor survey undertaken at venues, which asked visitors about
whether they were on a day visit, had stayed overnight etc. This report has not
been commissioned again and therefore we are unable to provide the economic
data requested. We can supply visitor figures for Leicestershire Museums for
2013 and 2014 if this would be useful.”
Dr. Eynon CC asked the following supplementary questions:-
“(a) Has the new Collections Management Framework been authorised
by Cabinet which I understand is a requirement for Museum Accreditation?
(a)(iv) The answer
is confusing. Surely the specific cost of the dismantling and relocating the
engines will be informed by (not included in) the overall costs for the audit
and review? Is this correct and could I have an answer as to who will pay for
relocating the beam engine belonging to the City Council?
(b) (ii) There is a number
of important anniversaries coming up:-
2016, 50 years of Action Man. 2017,
2019, 80 years since Palitoy came to Coalville,
2019, centenary of founding of Palitoy.
Will the Museum service be in a position to celebrate these events in
their geographical context of Coalville?
(c) Who should
Members pass questions to regarding donated parts of the Collections?
(d) Will the Museum
Service be liable to pay back the Heritage Lottery Fund Grant associated with
the NEXT display?
(f) Should the
position regarding disposals change, will Members be consulted?”
Mrs. Camamile CC
replied to the effect that a written response would be provided to Dr. Eynon by officers.