Chicago Botanic Garden

for immediate release

Save America’s Treasures Program Awards
Chicago Botanic Garden Grant to
Conserve its Rare Books Collection

 

Media Only:
Julie McCaffrey
(847) 835-8213
jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org

GLENCOE, Ill. (March 20, 2008)—“Save America’s Treasures,” a federal government program that helps conserve significant U.S. cultural and historic treasures, recently awarded the Chicago Botanic Garden a $55,000 grant to help preserve its rare books collection. This award is given by a consortium that includes the National Endowment for the Humanities, The President’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities, the Institute of Museum & Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Park Service. The Garden was the only location in Illinois to receive a grant this year.

In 2002, the Chicago Botanic Garden purchased a spectacular collection of rare books and journals from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Approximately 3,000 titles from the 15th to 19th centuries are in this collection. The Lenhardt Library and has been working with these materials to make them accessible to researchers and the public. The books have been cleaned, de-acidified, and cataloged. The next step in the conservation process is to repair centuries of damage.

“The Garden’s rare book collection reflects the botanic history of the United States, from documentation of exotic botany by “old world” plant explorers to the evolution of American agriculture,” said Leora Siegel, director of the Lenhardt Library of the Chicago Botanic Garden. “This grant will allow the Library to conserve and repair an ‘Americana’ focused portion of this wonderful collection.”

The Federal Save America’s Treasures program is one of the largest and most successful grant programs furthering the protection of irreplaceable and endangered cultural heritage in the United States. To be eligible for this grant, each applicant project must be of national significance, demonstrate an urgent preservation need, make the case as to how they will address the threat, and demonstrate the likely availability of non-federal matching funds.

Save America’s Treasures competitive grants were award to 31 projects in 24 states.

The Woman's Board of the Chicago Horticultural Society established the Lenhardt Library in 1951. In 1959 it contained 584 volumes. With the opening of the Chicago Botanic Garden and its Education Center in 1976, the Library's growing collection of 6,000 books moved to a new facility to better meet the needs of its users.

Today the collections of the Library hold approximately 28,000 titles including 22,000 books, more than 300 currently received periodical titles, 670 non-current and out-of-print periodical titles, 600 videos and DVDs, 10,000 slides, 1,000 nursery catalogs, 3,000 rare books and periodicals, and the archives of the Chicago Horticultural Society.

The Lenhardt Library is located in the Regenstein Center. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday and Wednesday through Saturday. Tuesday hours are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday hours are from noon to 4 p.m. Closed holidays. Members have borrowing privileges.

Admission to the Chicago Botanic Garden is free. Select event fees apply. Parking is $15; free for members. For more information and to search the library collections, visit www.chicagobotanic.org/library.

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Editors, please note: The Chicago Botanic Garden's newsroom is online at www.chicagobotanic.org/pr. For digital images, contact Julie McCaffrey at (847) 835-8213 or at jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the green treasures of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 23 distinct display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. With events, programs and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year, except Dec. 25. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $15; free for members. On Tuesdays, senior citizens age 62 and older pay just $7 for parking. The Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Ill. Visit www.chicagobotanic.org, or call (847) 835-5440 for seasonal hours, images of the Garden and commuter transportation information.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a broad array of adult classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives that have global impact. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings the wonder of nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. The Garden's Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening programs provide nationally recognized community outreach and service programs. The Garden is also breaking new ground in urban horticulture and jobs training through a 15-acre project in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago called Windy City Harvest. The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.