Despite a successful 2013, the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives faces some significant challenges this year, according to the president of the Jasper-Yellowhead Historical Society, Herb Robinson.
At the society鈥檚 annual general meeting April 15, Robinson explained that the society is about to lose two of its employees, bookkeeper Val Mosher and museum manager Karen Byers.
Byers has been the manager at the museum for 10 years, and is leaving for personal reasons. She said she will likely stay at her position until the end of June, hopefully giving her a chance to train her replacement.
And while Robinson said Byers鈥� departure is 鈥渁 predictable or normal event in the evolution of an organization,鈥� she will be deeply missed.
Robinson said that with the manager and bookkeeper both leaving, 鈥渋t鈥檚 going to take some creative leadership from our treasurer鈥� to keep the books in line.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of things up in the air right now,鈥� he said, noting that the staffing challenges will add to the stress the museum is already under to secure and maintain enough funding to continue to operate.
He explained that while the museum has always operated with limited funding, it has done a remarkable job with what it has鈥攖hanks in large part to its great staff, and a very dedicated core group of volunteers.
鈥淏eing the living memory of a community and a repository of its challenges, its memories and its dreams, is no small feat. To do so with a shoestring budget and a far-too-small staff is remarkable,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is something to be very, very proud of.鈥�
Robinson said, however, that money is still a concern for the museum. Along with their normal work, staff members volunteer a lot of their own time, and it would be nice to be able to compensate them better.
One way the society鈥攚hich runs the museum鈥攎ight be able to generate some extra income, Robinson said, is by developing its extra lot.
鈥淚 think there is a receptivity to explore outside the box a little bit鈥� for ways to make the extra land profitable, he said. Of course it鈥檚 hard to say exactly what those ways might be, but Robinson urged the membership to think hard about it.
But just as it has in the past, most members believe the museum will continue to overcome the challenges it faces. In her manager鈥檚 report, Byers wrote that 鈥渨onderful exhibits, excellent programming and some fabulous additions to the collection made it a memorable year鈥� for the museum in 2013.
And the community has shown its willingness to support the organization, as is evidenced by the outpouring of support that came in when the museum needed to raise money for a new roof.
Also exciting is the strong possibility that the museum will soon be connected to the Alberta SuperNet鈥攁 high-speed performance network connecting 429 communities across Alberta with fiber optic cables.
Robinson said that while he鈥檚 not 100 per cent sure the government will provide the hookup for the museum, right now it looks pretty likely. If it does happen, the super-fast Internet connection will allow the museum to host video conferencing, provide virtual programming and offer exciting new technological possibilities.
Trevor Nichols
[email protected]
