Mission

TACREN is a network of institutions and individuals who pledge to work together to protect cultural heritage collections in the Triangle area of North Carolina which includes Durham, Orange, and Wake counties, We provide disaster response assistance and/or support for one another. Members of TACREN also provide assistance to area cultural organizations in disaster planning, disaster response, and building relationships with area first responders.

History

On October 23, 2009, the North Carolina Preservation Consortium (NCPC) in partnership with Heritage Preservation sponsored an Alliance for Response Forum in Raleigh at the North Carolina Museum of Art. This is a national program that builds bridges between cultural heritage institutions and emergency response agencies to effectively plan for and respond to man-made and natural disasters that impact libraries, museums, archives, historic sites, outdoor public art, and monuments. The goal of the program is to establish ongoing partnerships, policies, and cooperative planning efforts.

In early 2010 some attendees of this Alliance for Response Forum met under the leadership of NCPC to discuss the next steps in the establishment of a cultural resources emergency partnership for the area around Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The steering committee consisted of members from public and private cultural institutions, regional academic libraries, and conservators. As TACREN organized, the group determined the mission of the group, selected a logo, and planned for the development of some short and longer term initiatives.

In 2010 TACREN will focus on the establishment of a network of responders who are available to provide advice and assistance to area cultural institutions after an emergency damages collections. TACREN will establish a local hotline for cultural institutions to call after an emergency. Regional cultural institutions and individuals involved in conservation will be sent a survey asking about the status of their disaster preparedness and response plans and inviting them to join the TACREN network. TACREN also will purchase a number of copies of Heritage Preservation’s Field Guide for Emergency Response to use as a template for assisting regional institutions in writing disaster preparedness and response plans.

Contact TACREN:
For additional information on TACREN, please contact Lyn Triplett at 919-807-7293.

Steering Committee

Winston Atkins
Preservation Officer
Duke University Libraries

Jamie Bradway
Preservation Librarian
North Carolina State University Libraries

John Campbell
Collections Section Chief
North Carolina Museum of History

Ken Dodson
Facilities Manager
Nasher Museum of Art

Jennifer Farley
Manager, Duke Homestead
North Carolina Historic Sites

Jennifer French
Objects Conservator
North Carolina Museum of History

David Goist
Art Conservator

Andrew Hart
Preservation Librarian
University Libraries
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Mary Hauser
Registrar/Collections Manager
Gregg Museum of Art and Design

Martha Battle Jackson
Curator of Technology
North Carolina Historic Sites

Laura Ketchum
Outreach Coordinator
North Carolina Department of Archives and History

Andrea Knowlton
Assistant Conservator
Special Collections
University Libraries
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Becky McGee-Lankford
Head of Government Records
North Carolina State Archives

Lyn Triplett (Chair)
Disaster Coordinator
Connecting to Collections
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
lyn.triplett<at>ncdcr.gov