Collections Management Policy

CCPMM was established in 1958, all of the initial pieces in the collection were on loan. In reality in a small community, a statement of loan or gift is the same. If a member of the community donates an item to the museum, he/she is very likely to change his/her mind and the museum has to treat the item like a loan regardless of the original intent. 

Staff members must practice the highest degree of decorum at all times during these tedious negotiations. The Museum’s reputation is more important than most items in the collection.

The Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum collects objects, archives, and artifacts with local and regional significance and other objects, archives, and artifacts that are deemed necessary to promoting an understanding of the relevance of Crosby County history as described by the institutional mission statement. 

The mission and purpose of the Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum is to educate and enrich the local community and out-of-town visitors in Crosby County History; to provide facilities for educational, recreational, benevolent, and civic uses; to faithfully tell the story of Crosby County history by displaying historical artifacts and information related to Crosby County; to preserve for posterity historical records of Crosby County and residents; to offer public programs that fulfill those purposes; and to operate with integrity on a non-profit basis, for the betterment of our community. 

The collections contain all of the initial pieces donated after the museum was established in 1958, including those made by the Lamar family who founded the trust to fund the museum, as well as collections acquired after the founding of the museum.
The collections’ many strengths include a collection of Native American artifacts (points, tools, pottery, clothing), an extensive archive of local obituaries and family histories, and a collection of saddles, guns, and historical furniture and household items used from 1870-1950.
The Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum continues to collect objects and documentary materials necessary to interpret the mission of the museum with a focus on the following: circuit riders, banks, firearms, volunteer fire department, courthouse, and railroad.

1. The museum acquires objects that meet all of the following criteria:
2. The objects are relevant to and consistent with the mission statement and scope of collections. 
3. The museum can provide for the storage, protection, and preservation of the objects  under conditions that ensure their availability for museum purposes and in keeping with professionally accepted standards.
4. The museum intends to retain the object for the long term as long as it retains its physical integrity, identity, and authenticity, and remains useful for the purposes of the museum.
5. Title to all objects acquired for the collections should be obtained free and clear, without restrictions as to use or future disposition. Objects with restrictions and limitations must be approved by the full board of directors. The conditions must be stated clearly in an instrument of conveyance, must be made part of the accession records for the objects, and must be strictly observed by the museum.
6. A legal instrument of conveyance, setting forth an adequate description of the objects involved and the precise conditions of transfer, should accompany all gifts and purchases and should be kept on file at the museum. All gifts should be signed by the donor and an authorized museum representative. In the case of sales and conditional gifts, this document should be signed by the seller and donor and by an authorized museum representative.

Appraisals shall be made by qualified appraisers recommended by university museums, if possible. Trustees, staff members or any other person closely associated with the museum may not appraise an acquisition. Staff may render impartial assistance to doors seeking independent, qualified appraisers. (See U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1984 and International Revenue Service regulations relating to the Act.)

1. To deaccession is to remove accessioned objects or collections from the museum’s register and physically disposed of them. 
2. No donated object shall be deaccessioned for any reason for three years after the date of its acquisition (See U.S. Reform Act of 1984 and I.R.S. regulations.)
3. Deaccessions may be considered if the following criteria are met: 
   1. The object is duplicative, superfluous, deteriorated, incomparable; 
   2. No longer relevant and useful to the mission statement and scope of collections of the museum;
   3. And can no longer be properly stored and preserved. 
4. Objects in the collections should be deaccessioned only upon the recommendation of the director or a responsible authority approved by the director and in accordance with policies approved by the museum’s governing authority. All transactions must be reported to and approved by the Board of Directors. Deaccessions having an estimated value of less than $500 may be appropriately disposed of by the director in an approved manner. Deaccessions having a value of more than $500 must be approved by the museum’s board of trustees.
5. Loaned objects are deaccessioned as abandoned property upon the approval of the Board of Directors and legal counsel.

1. In considering various alternatives for the disposition of deaccessioned objects the museum should be concerned that:

1. The manner of disposition is in the best interests of the museum, the public it serves, the public trust it represents in owning the collections, and the scholarly or cultural committees that it represents.
2. Preference should be given to retaining in the State or Nation material that is part of the historical, cultural or scientific heritage of Texas or of the United States, respectively.
3. Consideration should be given to placing the objects through gift, exchange, or sale, in another tax-exempt public institution where they may serve the purpose which they were acquired initially by the museum. If objects are offered for sale elsewhere, preference should be given for sale at advertised public auction or to the public market place in a manner that will best protect the interests, objectives, and legal status of the museum.
4. Funds realized from the sale of deaccessioned objects may be used only to replace the object with another that has relevance, importance or use to the museum’s mission or to invest in the existing collections by enhancing their life, usefulness or quality and thereby ensuring they will continue to benefit the public.

2.  Before disposing of any objects from the collections, reasonable efforts should be    made to ascertain that the museum is free to do so. Where restrictions as to use or disposition of the objects under question are found to apply, the museum should act as follows:

1. Mandatory restrictions should be observed strictly unless deviation from their terms is authorized by a court of competent jurisdiction.
2. Objects to which precatory restrictions apply should not be disposed of until reasonable efforts are made to comply with the restricting conditions. If practical and reasonable to do so, considering the value of the objects under questions, the museum should notify the donor if it intends to dispose of such objects within ten years of receiving the gift or within the donor’s lifetime, whichever is less. 
3. If the donor is deceased at the time of deaccessioning the executor of the donor’s estate is responsible for negotiations with the museum. The museum will consider releasing items to the family of the donor only with written consent verified by phone from all of the 1st generation descendants of the donor.
4. If there is any question as to the intent or force of restrictions, the museum should seek the advise of its legal counsel.

3. An adequate record of the conditions and circumstances under which objects are deaccessioned and disposed of should be made and retained as part of the museum’s collection records by the director.

Appraisals shall be made by qualified appraisers recommended by university museums, if possible. Trustees, staff members or any other person closely associated with the museum may not appraise an acquisition. Staff may render impartial assistance to doors seeking independent, qualified appraisers. (See U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1984 and International Revenue Service regulations relating to the Act.)

Appraisals shall be made by qualified appraisers recommended by university museums, if possible. Trustees, staff members or any other person closely associated with the museum may not appraise an acquisition. Staff may render impartial assistance to doors seeking independent, qualified appraisers. (See U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1984 and International Revenue Service regulations relating to the Act.)

Appraisals shall be made by qualified appraisers recommended by university museums, if possible. Trustees, staff members or any other person closely associated with the museum may not appraise an acquisition. Staff may render impartial assistance to doors seeking independent, qualified appraisers. (See U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1984 and International Revenue Service regulations relating to the Act.)

Appraisals shall be made by qualified appraisers recommended by university museums, if possible. Trustees, staff members or any other person closely associated with the museum may not appraise an acquisition. Staff may render impartial assistance to doors seeking independent, qualified appraisers. (See U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1984 and International Revenue Service regulations relating to the Act.)