Reading List: How to Close a Museum: A Practical Guide by Susana Smith Bautista

Here we go, the thing museum people don't want to talk about: closing your museum.

Sadly, we know it happens, though, right? In general, not every museum that has ever opened is still open today, and especially given what's happened in the world the past two years, we know museums are closing. There have been some webinars and conference sessions (such as "What Happens When Museums Close" at the 2021 American Alliance of Museums' virtual conference and "Managing the Afterlife of a Collection" at the New England Museum Association's 2021 virtual conference), a handful of articles and blog posts, AASLH's "What's Next? A Guide to Museum Transitions and Closures" (2021), and AAM's collection of resources, but now there's also a book to help you through the hard stuff.

The first thing I really took from this book is to hire a lawyer. Even just reading this as a guide for information, some of this stuff is hard. Plus, every state is different about what you're required to do to close your museum, so get a lawyer! And as Bautista points out, even if you have a lawyer on staff or on your Board of Directors, get an outsider so there are no questions of conflicts of interest.

The "Above and Beyond" chapter includes ethical and moral questions to consider, to go along with all of the legal questions you need to answer and rules you need to follow. What I especially appreciate about this chapter is that it reminds the reader of the duties we have to the public -- holding collections in the public trust, programming for the public's good and education, partnerships we have with our community -- and asks you to think about these ethics and morals as you plan how to close your museum (who you tell, when you tell them, where your collections go, etc.). It makes the book be about more than what you need to do, but also adds what you should do.

There's also a chapter with a step-by-step Closing Plan, but you definitely need to read the whole book first, before you actually begin your shutdown. Some of these steps require a lot of planning ahead of time, before they can be implemented as part of the closing procedures, so don't try to work through the step-by-step section in real time. 

The upsides:

• The appendix of sample documents and plans
• Brainstorming suggestions, such as potential partnerships and organizations to give your collections/assets to.
• Case studies of other museums that closed give interesting things to think about, including sometimes how not to do things. 
• Throughout the book are tips about planning that can help you avoid being in a position where you need to think about closing your museum, so really, everyone should read this, even if you're new or not yet thinking about closing. (Like they say, plan ahead of time, when you have a clear head, rather than waiting until you're panicked.) 

The downsides:

• This is not an all-in-one, do-it-yourself guide. You'll need help: legal help, help from your Board of Directors, help from the staff. But that's not a downside of the book; this book isn't meant to have you do it all, and it's probably not very possible for one person to do it all. If anything, it's a downside of the situation.

Overall: Yes! At times it felt like this book was skimming the surface, but I don't know that it's possible to get in-depth enough. As said above, each state -- and each situation -- is different, so there's no way Bautista could cover everything. But this will certainly get you started if you're in that "We have to close" crunch (and even if you're not yet, or hope to never be). 

How to Close a Museum: A Practical Guide, 2021 

Susana Smith Bautista

133 pages of text, approximately 60 pages of Appendix (sample documents, etc.) and Bibliography