Residents with an eye on preserving history now have more resources on hand thanks to the Denton County Museums’ new Institute of Museum and Library Services Connecting to Collections Bookshelf, a core set of conservation books and online resources donated by the institute.

The book collection is essentially a “how to” on preserving photographs, art and other heirlooms, said Sara Dee, education and tourism director for county museums.

The county applied to receive the books, describing the needs and plans for the care of its collections, Dee said.

The institute has awarded nearly 3,000 sets of the IMLS Bookshelf, in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History.

The books focus on collections typically found in art or history museums and in libraries’ special collections, according to a county news release. The books address such topics as the philosophy and ethics of collecting, collections management and planning, emergency preparedness, and culturally specific conservation issues.

The IMLS Bookshelf is a component of “Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action,” an initiative launched in 2006 in response to a study that raised concerns about the state of the country’s historical collections, the news release said.

Dee said the University of North Texas and Denton libraries also have the IMLS Bookshelf resources.

“It’s a great source for people interested in history, especially with a lot of the interest in genealogy and preserving family history,” Dee said. “There will be a lot of people interested in preserving what they have for future generations.”

BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is blewis@dentonrc.com.