SMCC > How to deposit objects > Can I just loan my object/collection to the museum?

Can I just loan my object/collection to the museum?

Museums and galleries distinguish between short term and long term or 'permanent' loans.

A short term loan will be for a specific purpose such as for an exhibtion. Objects and collections on a short term loan will be lent to the museum or gallery for a specified period of time before it is returned to the owner.

It is less common for museums to accept long term or 'permanent' loans. A Registered or Accredited museum will only take objects on long term loan if there is a good reason why it cannot be a gift. Such reasons include that the owner does not have the right to give the object away. This is not common practice though and museums and galleries are often unwilling to consider long term loans.

Why don’t museums take permanent loans?

Looking after objects in museums takes a lot of time and money. The museum is happy to do this for objects where it knows that people will get a benefit: the object can be seen in an exhibition, the curator can get it out for interested visitors, and so on. Much of the cost is at the beginning of the object’s life in a museum, and the benefit may stretch over many generations. When an object is on loan, however, the owner may take it away before the public has had any benefit.