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ARTICLE 8 (h) Project: Cary Library Preservation Project-Archives CPA Category: Historic Resources Amount Requested: $100,000 Amount recommended: $100,000 CPC Vote: (8-0-1) Project Description: The Library seeks to build a secure, climate-controlled, fireproof vault in an existing storage room to protect and preserve valuable Lexington-related historic materials, especially the Worthen Collection. While the Town has taken steps to secure its municipal records, the Library still has volumes of unprotected historic documents in its collection. A climate controlled vault would ensure long-term preservation of these valuable Library documents. Project Goals and Objectives: Plans for the renovated 2004 Library building included a secure, climate-controlled environment to house all historic collections. This vault was eventually eliminated from the building project due to budgetary reasons. However, based on recommendations from a FY 2008 LSTA(Library Services and Technology Act) Grant Funded Preservation Survey Report(November, 2008) and actions identified in the Cary Memorial Library Preservation Action Plan(October, 2009), the Library needs this secure, climate- controlled environment to protect and preserve its historic materials. These materials are currently housed in three historic rooms on the main floor where temperature and humidity levels are inconsistent. Project Benefit: Lexington is a community rich in history. The Library serves as a steward for several local history collections,most notably the irreplaceable Worthen Collection, an archive of research materials on the history of Lexington. Proper storage is necessary for long term preservation of these materials. For further protection,programs such as digitization are being developed to provide alternate sources of access to many of the items. Funding Request: This request is for $100,000. $10,000 of this amount represents design costs and$90,000 represents construction costs. The total cost is an estimate based on a similar project that has been recently completed in the Cary Memorial Building. 13