The Maine Historical Records Advisory Board and the National Historic Publications and Records Commission have awarded a $600 grant to the Witherle Memorial Library that will fund a professional assessment of historic items in the library’s collection.

The project will assess the condition of library-owned records, postcards, books, photographs, audio recordings, artwork and ephemera as well as items that are on long-term loan to the library including photographs, antique newspapers and other historic documents. The assessment will be conducted by Paige Lilly, the former curator at the Castine Historical Society and now the principal at Lilly Archival. The assessment also will provide recommendations for conservation, preservation, storage and/or display for those items.

The assessment will be the first step in the library’s plan to make many of these objects accessible to patrons through secure displays at the library as well as digitally through the library’s website.