LYRASIS Receives $450,000 from NEH to Provide Regional Preservation Field Services

Atlanta, GA - March 11, 2010 - LYRASIS receives $450,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support a two-year project to provide preservation field services to libraries, archives, and historical organizations in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US.

With the support of the NEH and other organizations since 1984, LYRASIS Preservation Services has served as an effective agent for improving an institution’s ability to preserve its collections. At the heart of LYRASIS Preservation Services is an extensive education and training program which increases preservation knowledge and skills, provides support for effective preservation planning and management, and improves disaster preparedness and recovery in cultural heritage organizations.

“In addition to continuing our current preservation education program, this grant funds the expansion of services which now include a special training and consulting initiative to create disaster plans and develop community response networks for 40 cultural organizations,” said LYRASIS CEO Kate Nevins. “We are particularly excited about the new consulting arm of the program because it enables us to support LYRASIS members with customized preservation solutions.”

“LYRASIS Preservation Services meets the needs of institutions of various types and sizes, emphasizing preservation as a program of cost-effective resource management that can be integrated into existing practices and plans,” added Robin Dale, LYRASIS Director of Digital and Preservation Services.

LYRASIS also works through the Regional Alliance for Preservation (RAP) and directly with other preservation field service programs to cooperate on programs and share resources.

About LYRASIS
Created in April 2009 by the merger of PALINET and SOLINET and joined shortly thereafter by NELINET, LYRASIS is the nation’s largest regional membership organization serving libraries and information professionals - providing opportunities for networking and collaboration, offering innovative solutions, and significant cost savings through group purchasing for products and services. For more information, please visit www.lyrasis.org.