While much of the processing of your theatre’s archival material can be conducted within existing company offices, storage of the material may require additional space within or outside the theatre and/or company building. After conducting a preliminary archival assessment and determining what is to be kept as well as the approximate amount of material that will be added each year, your archives committee can determine if existing space will suffice. You will also want to consider how often some material may be needed by staff and potential researchers more often than others. Specific types of material may be kept on site, while others could be sent to an off-site shelving location.
Given limitations on time, space, and money at your theatre, you may also consider the possibility of placing your company archives in a manuscript repository. Repositories in public, academic, or private institutions specialize in preserving and making accessible manuscript collections and institutional records from a variety of sources. However, the pros and cons of this option should be weighed carefully. Depending on your geographical location, finding an appropriate repository for your theatre’s archives may entail a simple phone call or an extensive search. Within large, metropolitan areas, public libraries and universities often have well known archival repositories. It may be more difficult to identify appropriate repositories in smaller communities.
All manuscript repositories have general, if not specific, collection development policies. Understandably, they cannot acquire every archive that it is offered. So, you will want to initially investigate repositories that specialize in performing arts, and/or a repository with which your company or company affiliate already has a relationship. Often, company founders or other administrative or artistic staff have strong ties with their alma maters; these universities often are interested in collecting the papers of their graduates or the records of companies with which they have been strongly associated.
In discussing the possibility of placing your company archives in a manuscript repository, you will want to evaluate the repository’s policies regarding:
- gift agreements, detailing ownership of intellectual rights and property rights of material
- deposit agreements, detailing length of deposit, financial support for housing and processing material, and under what circumstances material might be returned to the company
- the manner in which originals or copies of archival material may be made available to the company by the repository when needed
- restriction agreements describing what, if any, material should be restricted to readers (researchers) and for what period of time
- schedules of transfers to repository describing the timeframe for initial and future additions of archival material to be transferred to the repository (e.g., every 2, 5, or 10 years)
- the manner in which inventories and finding aids will be created in conjunction with the repository
- providing financial assistance for processing and housing company records
In considering an appropriate repository for your company’s archives, you will also want to consider the location of the repository and the ease with which company records can be transferred and accessed. While some high-profile repositories may offer prestige, if they are highly restrictive or far away, your company may not be able to activate its archives in a way that supports current work. On the other hand, theatre companies do not live forever, so establishing a relationship with an institutional repository is prudent, even if your archives remain in-house until your company stops making theatre.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
- Project growth rate for physical records and identify on-site and off-site storage options.
- If unable to maintain an archival program, identify an institutional repository to take your collection.