Loans at National Trust Historic Sites

The following loan procedures relate to both outgoing loans, when your Site has agreed to lend museum collections to another museum or site, and incoming loans, when your Site has requested to borrow museum collections from another museum, site, or private individual.

As outlined in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Collections Management Policy, both incoming and outgoing loans of National Trust-owned museum collections are to be made for exhibition and research purposes only.  Museum collections may be loaned only to not-for-profit educational institutions, as long as the exhibition or research of the loaned objects supports the mission of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Site. In the decision to recommend an outgoing loan, staff should consider such factors as the condition of the object, its importance to the interpretation of the National Trust Historic Site, and the circumstances and purpose of the loan. Both the Site Director and the Director of Museum Collections must approve outgoing loans of National Trust collection objects. 

 

LOAN REQUEST LETTERS

For an outgoing loan request (request from a museum or non-profit organization to borrow from a National Trust Historic Site) to be considered complete, it should include the following information:

• A formal loan request letter from the requesting museum or Site, on letterhead, from the Director or organizing Curator, and including the statement that all costs of the loan, including packing, shipping, and insurance, will be covered by the borrower.
• Specific dates (starting month/day/year and ending month/day/year) that the requested object(s) would be on loan to the venue(s).
• An AAM Standard Facility Report for the hosting venue(s).

Please contact the Director of Museum Collections if you would like to see examples of loan requests that your Site can use as a model for your own incoming exhibition or loans, or, that you can compare to an outgoing loan request that you have received.

 

LOAN AGREEMENTS

Both incoming and outgoing loan paperwork is generated at National Trust Headquarters. Please complete the Notification for Incoming or Outgoing Loan Form to notify the Director of Museum Collections about an upcoming loan request.  Please also include a copy of the original loan request letter and any supporting materials.  National Trust Headquarters should be notified as far in advance as possible in order to generate the appropriate paperwork in time. Six (6) months advance notice is highly recommended for all loans.

Loan agreements should be completed, and Certificates of Insurance should be issued, before objects depart the National Trust Historic Site (outgoing loan) or the Lender’s museum or home (for incoming loans).

In the rare cases when a last-minute incoming loan comes up, and if a loan is deposited at your site prior to a loan agreement being completed, please fill out a Temporary Custody Receipt at the time the object(s) is deposited at your Site.  Immediately contact the Director of Museum Collections so that loan paperwork can be prepared.

 

SHIPPING

When shipping a collections object for an outgoing loan, please provide two copies of the Shipping Notification and Receipt Form to the Borrower (it works well to pack this form, along with an outgoing condition report, in the box or crate along with the object). The Borrower should sign both copies, mail one to your Site for your records along with an incoming condition report, and keep the other copy for their records. This paperwork confirms that the Borrower has safely received safe receipt of the loan object(s).

When it is time to return a loan to its home location, the Loan Return Notification and Receipt Form can be used to document the return delivery or shipment.

 

If you have any questions about the procedures or forms listed above, please contact Terri Anderson, the John & Neville Bryan Director of Museum Collections at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 202-588-6232 or terri_anderson@nthp.org.  Please fax forms to 202-588-6232.