Statement of Purpose
The mission of the Friends of Wood Memorial Library and Museum (FWML&M) is to provide literary, archival, historical, educational and cultural resources for the general public by actively collecting and preserving materials of local and regional significance, and to use these collections as a basis for research, exhibitions, and educational programming.
Materials Collected
Collecting priority is given to primary and secondary source material that is relevant to the mission of FWML&M and strengthens its collections. Relevant materials are those that illustrate the history of South Windsor, its residents, or the associated region. Material from other parts of Connecticut, New England, or elsewhere, that elucidates aspects of the present collection, may be accepted. Materials strengthen the collection if they complement the present collection, have high informational value, and are not duplicates of materials already in the collection.
Primary sources include, but are not limited to, the following: personal and professional papers and correspondence, business records, family letters and Bibles (note: only Bibles with extensive handwritten notes or inscriptions will be accepted), town records, oral histories, journals and diaries, genealogical records, rare and/or first edition books, photographs, prints, postcards, maps, architectural drawings, speeches, lectures, audio or video recordings, unpublished writings, and newspaper clippings that illuminate a person’s life and career.
Except in special circumstances, FWML&M will refrain from collecting photocopies of material held by other repositories and individuals. FWML&M will not accept collections which are closed to public access in perpetuity. Although FWML&M prefers not to collect materials with access restrictions, collections that can be opened upon the donor’s death or within a reasonable period of time (not to exceed 25 years) will be considered.
Furniture, decorative arts, original art, and objects other than documentary material will be considered for acceptance if the object is unique, not available elsewhere, part of a larger collection, or of unquestionable historical or artistic significance.
August 2021