More visitors, more members, more donations and more programming – especially in the digital realm – have Ryan Duffy, executive director of the Holland Land Office Museum, feeling optimistic about the direction of the history learning center and gathering place at 131 West Main St.
“Now that we’ve grown our digital audience, we feel more confident to continue our outreach … anywhere in the world, we can tell our stories,” Duffy said on Monday afternoon during an annual report to the Genesee County Legislature’s Human Services Committee at the Old County Courthouse.
Calling it the “biggest impact” in a year of positive developments, Duffy said the HLOM experienced more than 4,000 views on its digital platforms and weekly Artifact Video Series on YouTube.
He said that people have made their way to the museum after watching installments of the video series.
“It has been a success and we’ll keep going with it,” he said.
Duffy touched upon several items on the seven-page report he provided to the HSC, primarily indicating increases in attendance, participation and membership, and enhancements in the museum’s collection systems and community partnerships.
He said that visitorship was up by 50 percent over the past year – with more than 1,500 people expanding their knowledge of local history since the museum reopened in July 2020. More than half of those visitors were from outside of the county, he said.
Additionally, more than 275 community members have used the HLOM’s meeting space in that same time period and more than 300 people attended the museum’s special events, programs and concerts in person, he reported.
Membership is up by 30 percent, Duffy said, moving within 27 people of his goal of 200 annual members. As a result, donations more than doubled and gift shop sales and online bookstore sales surpassed last year’s totals.
In collection and exhibit management, Duffy said, “We’ve almost fully modernized our collection system.”
This consisted of inputting index cards into the digital database, ongoing data entry for recently acquired, found and on-display artifacts, and digitizing of paper artifacts and resource materials.
Duffy said the museum collaborates with other historical societies and associations throughout Western New York, and with schools and colleges to offer as much education and outreach as possible, including tours for elementary school pupils.
The museum also has various community partnerships, such as Batavia High School’s Make a Difference Day, United Way’s Day of Caring, GO ART! events and the Buffalo History Museum’s webinar series.
The director also said the museum applied for and received a $2,500 Reach grant from GO ART! to support its History Heroes Summer Program.
Going forward, Duffy said the HLOM board of directors’ strategic plan boils down to “taking what we’ve done and seeing how we can grow.”
Key points of the plan are expanding an online storefront to allow people to buy items from the gift shop remotely, including options for donations, memberships and program tickets; heavier promotion of the museum’s community space, which now has a new projector, screen and audio system; pursuing more grant opportunities, and increasing the number of exhibits.
Duffy said the community space is open to groups from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on evenings (all by appointment) at a charge of $25 per hour. He said it can accommodate up to 60 people – 30 to 40 comfortably.
For more information, go to www.hollandlandoffice.com.
