Archivist leads attack on museum pieces sale. The Brent and Whetstone Press reports that “bosses at Barnet Museum, in Wood Street, Barnet, have accused the council of betraying people’s trust by selling off hundreds of items donated to the museum by residents.”
Dr Gillian Gear, the Museum Archivist, feels that the council are showing a lack of respect for the borough’s history. The full story is here.
Not many people realise that local authorities have the right to sell parts of their archives or museums collections – just like they can do with public libraries!
This contrasts markedly with the Mills Archive and similar bodies which are constituted as charities. Our Trust Deed specifically protects our collections from such action as is made clear in our collection policy.