Broward County Libraries Division has been awarded a grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services ((IMLS), a federal agancy in Washington, D.C. that fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries.
The grant funds will be used to digitize the library's unique collection of Museum Extension Project ojbects and texts produced during the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935-1943. The digital exhibit and searchable image databases of over 1200 artifacts will be available at the library website, www.broward.org/bienes.
The collection, the only one of its kind, is part of the Bienes Center's larger New Deal/WPA research collection. Because of its under-representation in the scope of WPA research, lack of accessibility, historical significance and present-day applications, it was chosen to be the inaugural project in a series of digital exhibits on many of the New Deal/WPA agencies.
The WPA Museum Extension Project was a division of the WPA's Women's and Professional Division. It produced, on the state level, three-dimensional objects and printed materials that were used as visual aids in tax-supported schools, libraries and museums. The state projects created hand puppets, puppet scripts, marionettes, figurines, dolls, posters, lantern slides, architectural models, ship models, machinery models, costume plates, textiles, patchwork quilt patterns and dioramas. The Bienes Center has approximately 600 pieces, which is the largest collection of artifacts from the Museum Extension Project in the U.S.
The Bienes Center for the Literary Arts, located on the sixth floor of Broward County Main Library, is a state-of-the-art facility where rare books and special collections are housed, preserved, and shared, and includes space for programs and exhibits. The Center opented in 1996 and was made possible through the personal involvement and generosity of Fort Lauderdale philanthropists Dianne and Michael Bienes.
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