In January, Edra Moore visited Hermosa Beach’s museum to analyze how its mission, collections and administration could be improved. In her final report, Moore provided dozens of suggestions.

Moore’s visit was funded by a $1,775 grant from the national Museum Assessment Program.

“I know that the board members are going to review the number of issues contained in the report during this month’s meeting,” said Hermosa Beach Parks and Recreation Commissioner Howard Fishman, who prepared the grant on behalf of the society.

“The society and its board of directors have a great deal of enthusiasm to embrace the elements of the report now that the game plan is laid out for them. I think some great changes are going to start to take place in the next few months.”

Moore, from Lancaster, Calif., earned her master’s degree in anthropology from California State University Hayward. She now works as a museum curator at the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, specializing in artifact preservation and cataloging along with coordinating exhibit exchange programs with other museums.

Founded in 1987, with a current membership of 150 members and a budget reserve of $23,000, the Hermosa Beach Historical Society is a nonprofit organization aimed at acquiring, preserving and interpreting historical artifacts specific to the city of Hermosa Beach.

One of Moore’s first suggestions highlighted in her report was to revise the group’s mission statement. Moore also thought the organization should enlist the expertise of a strategic planning consultant by using a small portion of the society’s financial reserves.

“It is possible that a current member may have that background and would be willing to volunteer his or her services or provide them for a small stipend,” she wrote.

John Heyning, who is a Hermosa Beach resident and the deputy director of resources and collection and the curator of mammals for the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, has shown an interest in providing the society with his expertise in the area of strategic planning.

“The report has provided a nice blueprint for the Historical Society to move forward on changes it wants to implement,” said Heyning. “The future looks bright for them.”

Moore also suggested that the society create more exposure for the museum by exhibiting historic photographs at public places like banks. She also recommended hiring a consultant to address the museum’s physical structural limitations and provide exhibit designs that best highlight the collections.

Moore also proposed that the society implement a volunteer training program for the members who donate their time to the museum during its operation hours and provide visitors with an official brochure.

“When I stepped into the museum, it took me several minutes to realize that I was in the museum itself, not a storage space,” wrote Moore.

“There is no logical flow or direction for viewing the exhibits, and the organization and arrangement of exhibits seem random and chaotic. As a peer reviewer, I find this area difficult to address in an objective manner because the society possesses incredible interpretative potential in terms of not only materials but of human resources as well.”

With regard to collection stewardship, Moore contended the society’s current policies on artifact acquisition were too flexible, which she felt could cause disagreements over what items the organization should accept or reject.

Lastly, Moore advised the society to create detailed job descriptions of volunteers, members and the curator along with an expansive ethics policy.

Many of Moore’s recommendations involve improving the museum facility itself, something the society is already in the process of doing. Historical Society Vice President Rick Koenig, for instance, has agreed to head an effort to seek the approval of the city for more museum space and the possible remodel of existing spaces.

“This report is very inclusive and very well-done,” Koenig said “Edra has done such a wonderful job with her recommendations and analysis. I hope to really go over the report in depth during our next meeting.”

Last year, the city formed a subcommittee aimed at possibly combining the Historical Museum with proposed surfing and jazz collections. Koenig’s efforts to increase the size of the museum could help make that a reality.

Furthermore, Aloha Days organizer Abel Ybarra recently joined the group as a director, and hopes to incorporate his surfing collection into the Historical Museum.

Ybarra, who has organized the two-day surfing contest and festival to raise money for a new surfing museum, has agreed to donate a portion of the money from the event to the society’s budget. The society has also expressed a need in coordinating additional fund-raising events.