POLAND SPRING – Objects and artifacts held by the Poland Spring Preservation Society will be preserved for future generations with help from the Institute of Museum and Library Services Connecting to Collections Bookshelf.

A core set of conservation books, DVDs and online resources have been donated by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary source of federal funding of the nation’s museums and libraries.

The institute and its cooperator, the American Association for State and Local History, will award a total of 3,000 free sets of the IMLS Bookshelf by the end of 2009.

“Over the past three decades, our organization has been fortunate enough to have acquired thousands of pictures, historical accounts and other items that tell an important story in Maine’s history,” said Jason C. Libby, executive director of the Poland Spring Preservation Society. “With the help from this award, we will be able to effectively preserve and maintain them for use in the future.”

“We are very pleased to announce the recipients of the IMLS Bookshelf in the second round of competition. These libraries, museums and archives are in the forefront of our call to action on behalf of America’s collections,” said Anne-Imelda Radice, director of IMLS. “According to a recent national survey, our important collections are at great risk, and without them, the American story simply cannot be told to future generations.”

The Poland Spring Preservation Society is being awarded the resources based on an application describing the needs and plans for care of its collections.

The Bookshelf focuses on collections typically found in history or art museums and in libraries’ special collections, with an added selection of texts for zoos, aquaria, public gardens and nature centers.

It addresses such topics as the philosophy and ethics of collecting, collections management and planning, emergency preparedness and culturally specific conservation issues.

For more information on the conservation initiative, go to www.imls.gov/collections.

The Poland Spring Preservation Society is dedicated to the preservation of the Maine State Building and All Souls Chapel. Other objectives include offering educational programming for school children and the public, preserving the heritage of Poland Spring, providing low cost entertainment to the community through the annual summer concert series, art shows and other programming activities.