CHESTERTOWN — The Historical Society of Kent County is the recipient of a $20,000 grant from the Miller History Fund.
The grant will help pay for the implementation of a standardized cataloging system in the historical society’s research library — what’s been described as “a game-changing project” that will improve access to the research collections now and into the future.
“We’ve had fewer research requests about genealogy, and more about what life was like here in the past,” said research librarian Joan Andersen. “Cataloging the library will make it easier to help everyone, from scholars to young people, learn about all sorts of topics in Kent County history.”
The Miller History Fund, part of the Maryland Center for History and Culture, supports capacity-building projects for the long-term resiliency of collections stewards in Maryland.
“This grant will help us build a solid foundation for managing and sharing our research collections more effectively,” the Historical Society of Kent County posted in a statement on its website.
The project will begin later this spring with phase one, which includes evaluating the historical society’s collections and developing a cataloging plan that best suits its holdings.
The anticipated completion date is mid-2026.
“During the cataloging phase, the library will need to close temporarily. But don’t worry; we’ll give you plenty of notice before we ‘freeze’ the collection,” according to the post on the Historical Society of Kent County’s website.