SUN PRAIRIE HISTORICAL LIBRARY & MUSEUM IMPLEMENTS COLLECTING MORATORIUM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 12/22/2025
Katie Scanlan, Museum Director
kscanlan@cityofsunprairie.com
(608) 825-0837
 
Sun Prairie, WIS. – The Sun Prairie Historical Library & Museum (SPHLM) Board of Directors voted at
their December 10 meeting to implement a collecting moratorium to take effect immediately and to be
reevaluated at their May 13, 2026 meeting.

The decision was made based on possible future budget reductions that could impede the Museum’s
ability to properly care for its collections. “We want to manage the collection to the highest achievable
professional and ethical standards,” said Museum Director Katie Scanlan at the December 10 meeting.

A Community Survey Report and a Priority Based Budgeting Report, both recently presented to the City
of Sun Prairie Common Council, suggest that Museum funding could be reduced or eliminated if the
April 2026 City Operating Referendum does not pass. “It is not professionally or ethically responsible to
continue adding to the collections when the institution’s future is uncertain,” Scanlan explained.

When an item is offered to the collection, the Museum’s Collections Team reviews the item and makes a
recommendation to the Museum Board. The Museum Board votes on whether to accept the item. If
accepted, the donor signs a Certificate of Gift that transfers ownership of the item to the City, which
holds it in trust for the residents of the community.

“I hope this decision proves to be unnecessary – just a very short pause for an institution that has
accepted items from hundreds of donors since 1967,” says Scanlan. “But adding to the collections is a
huge commitment that we take very seriously. It is a promise to care for items in perpetuity. If we can’t
be confident of the Museum’s future, we can’t in good conscience accept items into the collection.”

Anyone considering offering an item for donation to the Museum is advised to wait until after the May
13 Museum Board meeting where the moratorium will be discussed. Currently, the Museum’s
collections contain over 35,000 items with nearly 25,000 searchable to the public through the SPHLM
Collections Database at https://sunprairie.catalogaccess.com/home.
 
About City of Sun Prairie
Sun Prairie is a vibrant and thriving community located in northeastern Dane County, just east of the
City of Madison. The City of Sun Prairie has experienced strong population growth since its incorporation
from a village to a city in 1958, undergoing a transformation from a relatively small community of less
than 4,000 to an estimated 39,419 today.