You're a collector too

You may think of collecting as a specialised activity, rare and valuable items in glass cases or velvet lined drawers, but collecting, although it can be like this, is something much broader and something peculiar to the human species.

With the possible exception of lyre birds and jackdaws, no other creature fetishises objects in the way we do, no other creature manufactures objects in the way we do either and I suspect that the one activity is an integral part of the other. Since early man first recognised one stick as more useful than another or one stone more suitable than another, we have been on the track of comparing, sorting, categorising, selecting, possessing, adapting, and manufacturing; in a word, collecting.

So although you might think you don't collect anything, (and by this you mean you don't trek off to antique markets and boot fairs in search of Staffordshire cow creamers) you almost certainly do, you wouldn't be human if you didn't.

Collecting can and does include the things you use, most activities involve collections of some sort. Cooking, DIY, car maintenance, sport, gardening and making music, all demand collections of specialised tools and equipment. Many people hoard magazines; that's a collection. Keeping all your receipts for an accountant... that's an archive.

If you think about it you do collect (records? CDs? Photographs?), it's just that you don't associate the activity with what museums do, but any of those collections of workaday items, given a few years, become items of historical interest. Even without the addition of years, people's collections are interesting. They tell us about lives and life and others' experience and that's one of the things that museums are for.

So before dismissing the idea of a People's Case as nothing to do with you, think about it for a bit.

Get in touch with us at MuseumFriends@HerneBayMatters.com or write to:

FOHBM Newsletter, 1 Mickleburgh Hill, Herne Bay CT6 6AA.

We want to hear about your collections and we want you to make an exhibition of yourself, with our help of course.

David Cross, Secretary

May 2011

​FoHBM

The People's Case

In principal, the idea of a People's Case has been approved by museum staff, this will be a display case where people can apply to show their own collections or items of interest.

In Whitstable in the early nineties the museum ran a People's Show on the same basis, it was one of the most popular shows the service ever ran.

There were collections of fossils and the kind of things one might expect in a museum, but there was also the unexpected: a collection of Homepride flour graders, a collection of veteran microphones, Star Wars figurines, tea towels from around the world, egg cups, a vast collection of cigarette packets.

So we are appealing to all you collectors out there, members and non-members alike to come forward and share your passion.

​FoHBM

New Museum Director

​Jo Jones

As part of the restructuring and realignment of the Museums service as a whole, Canterbury City Council has appointed a new Director of Museums. She is Joanna Jones, currently Arts and Cultural Services Manager for Sefton Museums & Galleries, she is due to take up her new post in June.

Ken Reedie, who has been Curator of the City Museums and Galleries Service since the early 1970s is due to retire as soon as the Beaney project in Canterbury is complete.

The timing of Ms. Jones' appointment means that no great changes are likely take place in the near future. We can be encouraged that in making this appointment the Council seems serious about its commitment to support the museums and avoid any further threats of closure.

We look forward to working with the new Director, who we understand is enthusiastic about community involvement, to help make Herne bay Museum become the attraction that the town needs.

​FoHBM

Friends of the Museum Newsletter - May 2011

Number 4: May 2011

​FoHBM

Museum Saved!

Before Christmas on 6th December I sat with representatives of several other interested bodies to hear the Head of Culture & Enterprise, Janice McGuinness present to us the plan for the future of the whole museum service, including Herne Bay. There had been indications that the news might be good, but this was confirmation, the museum was indeed saved and the campaign had made a significant impact on the chain of events that led to the new policy.

The new commercial approach which has assured the museum a future includes: a £2 entrance fee for non resident adults, a complete overhaul of the retail and shop area, efficiency measures within the museum including greater staff empowerment, a proactive approach to attracting outside funding and much closer links with the community.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council were instrumental in helping to formulate the fresh approach. Their review of the City Council's whole museum service highlighted all these issues and reserved special praise for the potential level of community support as demonstrated by the campaigns triggered by the original council proposals to close three museums out of six.

The council has listened to these campaigns and all the interest groups who have had input into the subsequent review procedure. In Herne Bay it was quickly evident that our ad-hoc campaign had to turn onto something properly constituted so that we could have a voice in the proceedings. Friends of Herne Bay Museum was the result and up to now has been exclusively engaged in the campaign and the consultation process. This is a victory for the whole community, without those 2000 signatures and the blizzard of emails and letters, we would not have had the weight behind us during the talks, and Herne Bay would have been left without a voice, well done, everyone and thank you.

The future is exciting, if the council is as good as its word and adheres seriously to the recommendations of the MLA review, then lots of things then become possible. One of the most common complaints from people has been that, apart from the gallery space, "the museum never changes". There is a general perception that "there are things in storage that we never get to see". One of the complaints I most often hear is "there isn't enough information on the things that are on display".

Action on all these complaints we can now begin to press for. By spring next year the restructuring within the museum will have taken root and we can start to build relationships that will lead to creative solutions. I truly believe that the museum will be recast as a much more open and receptive body with a human face.

So with the new year come opportunities, ideas please people. What have you ever wanted to see or do in the museum? Have you ever expressed frustration or disappointment at some aspect of the museum or its shop? Which bits of the museum do you like best and want to stay as it is?

Please let us know, we need to put together a list of wishes, hopes and ambitions, however mad your idea, put it in an email or in a letter and send it to:

FoHBM Newsletter, 1 Mickleburgh Hill, Herne Bay, CT6 6AA or email: MuseumFriends@HerneBayMatters.com

David Cross, Secretary

January 2011