The impetus for the Connecting to Collections program came about to address problems and shortcomings identified in A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections (2005). 

• A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections The full Heritage Health Information Report done by Heritage Preservation, 2005

• A Public at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections Summary

 

The following year, The Institute of Museum and Library Services announced and created Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action as a multi-year, multi-faceted national initiative to raise public awareness and inspire action.

• Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action Video Call to Action for C2C Initiative (2007) 

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• Remarks by Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States June 27, 2007 at the National Conservation Summit regarding the nascent Connecting to Collections program. 

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For detailed information on the projects outlined below, see the full report to the nation 

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Connecting to Collections included many aspects designed to promote improved collections care for the nations museums, libraries, and archives including:

 

I. A five-city national listening tour and webinars

• A National Conservation Summit held June 27–28, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

• Preserving America’s Diverse Heritage held January 31–February 1, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia

• Collaboration in the Digital Age held June 24–25, 2008 in Denver, Colorado

• It’s Alive! Petals to Primates: Preservation Challenges of Living Collections held February 19–20, 2009 in San Diego, California Connecting to Collections Programs History and Legacy 2

• Stewardship of America’s Legacy: Answering the Call to Action held June 16–17, 2009 in Buffalo, New York

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II. An International Summit, Connecting to the World’s Collections: Making the Case for the Conservation and Preservation of our Cultural Heritage held October 2009 in Salzburg, Austria. 

 

III. Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning Grants were awarded to every state, commonwealth, and territory of the United States to create collaborative plans to respond to the recommendations of the Heritage Health Index findings. The individual reports from the state initiatives can be found here and the final analysis of the statewide programs can be found in Connecting to Collections: Analysis of IMLS C2C Statewide Planning Grants

 

IV. The Connecting to Collections Bookshelf program—a 23-text set of conservation mustreads and online resources designed to help small and medium-sized institutions handle every collections care contingency, from emergency preparedness to digitizing documents, from caring for living collections to training staff and volunteers. 3,000 sets of the Bookshelf were placed in museums, libraries, and archives.

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V. The Connecting to Collections Online Community was moderated by Heritage Preservation in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History and funded by the IMLS beginning in 2010. In December 2014, the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation took over the program and the name changed to Connecting to Collections Care Online Community.

 

VI. Connecting to Collections Statewide Implementation Grants were awarded to nineteen states to fund projects that implement the plans or models created through IMLS Connecting to Collections Statewide Planning Grants.