Written by Scarlett Rigby, Collections & Museum Operations Consultant

What does it take to become a permanent museum?

It is not just opening exhibitions or welcoming visitors. It takes years of work behind the scenes, including difficult decisions about what to collect, how to care for a collection, and what stories to carry forward through interpretation and programs.

This year, the Reher Center reached an important milestone. We were granted Absolute Charter status through the New York State Education Department’s Board of Regents recognizing our long-term stability and role as an educational institution. The process to get there is the real story.

Since receiving our five-year Provisional Charter in 2020, our museum has met the New York State Board of Regents standards for stability, effectiveness, and permanence required to complete the probationary period. This milestone reflects years of sustained work behind the scenes.

New York State requires museums to be Chartered through the Education Department. The process is slightly different than simply becoming incorporated as a non-profit organization, even though the foundational needs are similar (e.g., having a Board of Trustees, Articles of Incorporation, Code of Ethics, Conflict of Interest Policy, etc.). 

After we received our Provisional Charter in 2020, the museum worked to complete a Collections Management Policy (CMP) and the Emergency Disaster Plan (EMP)—two “living” policy documents that are specifically tailored to an individual museum. We call them “living” because they are not static or set in stone, but meant to be reviewed and changed periodically. The documents must consider how a museum operates within state, federal, and international law and the professional standards set by the Museum Association of New York (MANY), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM). All New York State museums must meet high operating and professional standards to be recognized with the permanence of an Absolute Charter.  

At its essence, what makes a museum “A Museum” is its commitment to caring for collections and safeguarding cultural and historical heritage for everyone. Objects within collections hold stories and carry knowledge across time. As tangible evidence of the past, they help us learn, reflect, and engage in dialogue with one another. A CMP is the foundational policy that dictates how a museum cares for and collects objects. Deciding what should be collected and held in the collection was something that the Reher Center had to thoughtfully determine through the creation of this policy.

What collections will be kept for present and future generations? 

It took many years and many discussions on what the Reher Center collections should be. In fact, the Collections Committee, formed in 2019, did not always agree on what should be collected in the museum and had paused work on the CMP in 2021. With the help of a grant, we were able to restart our efforts. 

In 2022, Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services of New York (DHPSNY)’s  Archival Needs Assessment reinvigorated the work on the CMP. DHPSNY’s report ultimately helped us define what our museum would collect. Archives Specialist Kate Philipson reviewed 3 gigabytes of institutional history—all the Center’s policies, organizational structure, historical studies and reports, and collections management to date—to advise us on next steps for improving our collections care. Kate had many recommendations and advised us to begin our journey to create the CMP by first defining the scope of our collection: what are the categories of the Reher Center’s collections?  

At the start, Kate noticed that we could separate out our collections in a way that might help the process. Our 2017 collections work, done by archivist Samatha Ferrer Gomez, had established an Archival Collection from Reher family and business papers, photographs, and ephemera. Thus, the committee’s task was to start looking at our Museum Collection and Archival Collection separately to then define what each one would hold and collect. 

The Collections Committee set a 2023 goal to complete the museum’s Collections Management Policy (CMP) by year’s end. Having a starting point to work from, here is how we decided to define our collections:

Permanent Collection

• Historic Building at 99-101 Broadway
• Objects
  • Reher Family & Bakery Objects
  • Archaeological Objects and Artifacts
  • Mission Specific Objects (objects that are accessioned into the collection as Gifts, Donations, Bequests, or Purchases).
• Archival Collection
  • Reher Family and Bakery Archive (papers, photographs, recipes, and ephemera)
  • Reher Center Institutional History Archive 
  • Oral Histories and their Transcripts

Study Collection (not formally accessioned)

• Study Objects
• Reference Collections 

The categories made it easier for the committee to define the scope of those collections—what belongs and does not belong in our collection. As mentioned, there are federal, state, and local laws that dictate museum collections, as well as ethical standards set by professional organizations (MANY, AAM, and ICOM). Museums largely decide protocol, authority, and procedures for how collections come to be within these laws and standards. 

For the Board of Regents, a CMP must cover policies and procedures for museum acquisitions, loans, preservation, access, and deaccessioning of collections. What and how an object gets accessioned into the collection and even how an object leaves a museum collection (on loan or by deaccessioning) all must be clearly stated within the CMP. 

We took time to comb through other museums’ CMPs as we began to tailor our own policy. The role of decision making regarding collections varies widely from institution to institution. This was one of the things we had to determine for our museum. Perhaps the most helpful thing we kept in mind when creating the policy was that it is a “living” document. The CMP is designed to be reviewed over time, assessed, and changed if necessary. In fact, we wrote it into the policy that it should be reviewed by the committee every three years to make sure our policy matches how our museum operates. Indeed, we’ve already had one change to the policy since its creation.

After meeting every two weeks for an hour over Zoom in 2023—literally going word by word through the policy and procedures for the CMP—the collections committee created a CMP for the Reher Center that was adopted by our Board of Trustees in December of 2023. It is the most important policy of our museum and a huge step forward to applying for Absolute Charter. The next step was to create an Emergency Disaster Plan (EDP), a guide for how to respond to a potential emergency. We set a new goal to create it by the end of 2024. 

Again, we collected examples of other EDPs and studied additional resources, including the comprehensive Getty Conservation Institute’s Building an Emergency Plan: a Guide for Museums and Other Cultural Institutions and AAM’s guidelines for developing a disaster plan. We read articles and watched various talks on creating a EDP and disaster preparedness. One of the most informative and engaging talks was hosted by MANY. Cultural Heritage Protection (recorded May 3, 2024) had Stéphane Ceccaldi, Expert Officer of the Cultural Heritage Protection for the Service Départmental d'Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (SDIS) and the Fire Project Manager at Château de Versailles discuss the terrible 2019 Norte Dame fire in Paris, France. Stéphane shared his valuable expertise on different kinds of disasters and challenges, as well as new technical approaches to these disasters–including building protections, operation documents, and training and awareness. 

We were warned that the EDP would be an even more difficult plan to create due to how detailed it needed to be. It had to be tailored to our site and institution,  staff and volunteers alike, and thoroughly comprehensive. We needed to consider not only protecting our collection and our historic building, but also how to protect visitors and staff in an emergency. The EDP needed to cover the full gambit of emergencies and disasters, from seemingly small incidents to catastrophic events. Importantly, it needed to be legible, easily read and easy to use for staff and volunteers in an emergency. 

The Collections Committee led the creation of the plan, the Building and Grounds Committee also played a key role in finalizing the policy, especially because committee members play key roles in responding to emergencies at the Reher Center. Surprisingly, the EDP came together more quickly than originally expected. Thinking we would need a full year, our committees finalized the plan in June and our Board of Trustees adopted the plan in July of 2024. 

Without creating and adopting the CMP and EDP, we could not have received our Absolute Charter. This is not to say that we would have stopped being a museum at the end of our Provisional Charter, as the Board of Regents allows for five-year charter extensions for organizations who need it. For the Reher Center, achieving our goal shows what an extraordinary organization we have in place. From our volunteer Board of Trustees to our volunteer committees to the staff, it is truly an honor to be part of the making the museum.  

If you would like to learn more about the process of how museums gain Provisional and Absolute Charters from the New York State Board of Regents, Documentary Heritage and Preservation Services of New YDHPSNY created a comprehensive webinar hosted by Lauren Lyons, Chartering Coordinator for New York State Museum, that lays out the entire. It is a must resource for anyone interested in starting a museum in New York State. 

One of the last steps of the Charter process is hosting a site visit for Lauren Lyons, which we had the pleasure of doing remotely. Kira, Olivia, and I virtually “walked” Lauren through our museum, and it was such a delight to show off the work we have done since gaining our Provisional Charter. From improvements to our collections management to major restoration projects within our building, we were able to express our passion for the Reher Center and the work we do within it.