We are so pleased that different organisations join the NWFED and we are always keen to visit and discuss important issues with our new members.
The Manchester Metropolitan University’s Special Collections is a brilliant example of how university collections are central to the teaching and training for staff and students. The collections are a great resource not just for the School of Art, the oldest one in the country, but for external researchers, artists and the public.
The range of collections is impressive from the international collections of posters, the Arts and Crafts movement collection from the School of Art, the Children Book Collections from the late 19th century until today and the Schmoller Collection of Decorated Papers. The collections are well catalogued and can be researched on line and the staff are really keen for people to visit. A family friendly space operates in the gallery.
The key priorities of this small but rich in collections and expertise accredited museum are the move of the collections to a bigger building, improvement of storage for all their collections and raise awareness of how the collections can be used by different University departments such as for example psychology and engineering. The team is also keen to develop handling collections.