The Brockville Museum’s collection grows thanks to the generous support of individuals and businesses who offer for donation objects and stories relating to Brockville’s history. Please review our Collection Policy (click here) for details on the types of objects we collect, including current collecting priorities.Only objects with a strong Brockville story will be considered for the collection.

Process for offering an object to the museum:

The Brockville Museum does NOT accept objects dropped off at the museum without a prior appointment.

1. Contact the museum Collection Coordinator by email or phone (613-342-4397 ext 6226) to discuss alignment with the museum’s collecting mandate
2. Fill out the temporary deposit form with as much information as possible about the object(s) and return to the Collection Coordinator by email or mail (5 Henry St. Brockville)
3. The Collection Coordinator will take the information to the Collection Committee for review against the museum’s collecting mandate and priorities; the Committee will make a decision (please note: the Committee meets every six months)
4. After the Collection Committee meeting (please allow up to a month), the Collection Coordinator will get back to all potential donors with the committee’s decision
5. If your object offer was accepted, you will be able to make an appointment with the Collection Coordinator to drop off the object(s) along with deed of gift form

How we make decisions about what we accept into the collection:

The museum’s volunteer Collection Committee makes decisions with regards to accepting objects into the collection based on the museum’s Collection Policy. The committee considers:

• how well the object meets the museum’s mandate and collecting priorities
• the history (provenance) of the object
• the object’s condition
• whether the object (or similar) is already represented within the museum’s collection
• whether the object represents a local story underrepresented in the museum’s existing collection

The committee relies on the information provided by the donor in order to make an informed decision. Some of the reasons an item may be declined include:

• the object is outside of the museum’s scope (in our case, not connected to Brockville)
• the donor did not provide sufficient information about the object
• it is a duplicate of something already in the musuem’s collection
• it is in poor condition
• the object’s size – the museum’s physical capacity must be taken into consideration
• the object would be a better fit for a different museum or organization
• it is offered as a “conditional gift” or “permanent loan” – the Brockville Museum avoids objects donated with “conditions”
• newsprint – the Brockville Museum does not accept newspapers for the collection; photocopies may be taken for the research files

If you are considering donating an object to the museum, please email the museum with a photo of the object and as much information as possible before making an appointment. If the Registrar thinks the item might be accepted by the Collections Committee you will be asked to fill out a temporary receipt form (which you may download as a PDF here). Please pay special attention to the questions on the second page of the form.

Once the collection committee has met you will be notified of their decision. Should the object not be accepted there are a number of other options available to you.

Other Options: the Brockville Museum may decline an object for the permanent collection, but may ask that it be accepted for use in the education or research collections. This option can be discussed at anytime with the Collection Coordinator.