Tyne & Wear Museums, the museum service managing 12 venues across Tyne &
Wear, and Tyne & Wear Archives Service, the record office for Newcastle upon
Tyne, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Tyneside and North Tyneside, are to merge
from April 2009 to provide a single joint service across Tyne & Wear.
The two services are currently governed by separate joint local authority
committees with Newcastle City Council as the lead authority for Museums and
Gateshead Council for Archives.
The merger of the two services will bring together a wide range of expertise
in collections management and interpretation, and will enable the further
development of the resources held by the museums and archives. Both
organisations already share headquarters at Discovery Museum in Newcastle
upon Tyne.
It will also unite extremely important collections that have been designated
as being of national importance.
Councillor John McElroy, chairman of the Tyne & Wear Archives Committee,
says:
"This is a logical step which will ensure the best possible
use of what is a valuable historic resource.
"Museums are all about sharing and celebrating our history
with the public - something we do rather well in Tyne and Wear. By
amalgamating with the archives service, we can perhaps open the way for our
written history to play a more prominent role in the telling of the story of
our region."
Newcastle City Council executive member for culture, leisure and customer
services councillor Pauline Allen says:
"This is a major step forward for these two excellent and
vital services that do such a great job of looking after and showing off
Tyne and Wear's rich heritage."
The new joint organisation intends to deliver quality services to the whole
community through the existing network of museums and galleries.
Alec Coles, director of Tyne & Wear Museums, says:
"This is about improving public services, and whilst it is a
significant event for both organisations, it is even more so for our users
who can now expect a fully integrated approach. Both organisations are
concerned with preserving our heritage and making it accessible to as many
people as possible. We are looking forwards to working together and to
learning from each other."
Liz Rees, chief archivist of Tyne & Wear Archives Service says:
"Archives haven't benefited from the extra money that has
been invested in museums in recent years. We now look forward to this
opportunity to raise the profile of our service in partnership with our
museum colleagues."
Liz Rees
Chief Archivist
Tyne & Wear Archives Service
Blandford House, Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4JA
Tel (direct) 0191 277 2241; (switchboard) 0191 232 6789
Fax 0191 230 2614
E-mail [log in to unmask]
Website www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk
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