Sharing Knowledge and Expertise with the Field
The AASLH book series, co-published with Rowman & Littlefield, addresses issues critical to the field through theoretical and practical texts. We strive to produce the most accessible and relevant works in the public history field, written by practitioners engaged in the same work that you do every day. Our books offer practical guidance, new ideas, comprehensive analysis of current debates and issues, and more. AASLH members always receive 20% off our books at Rowman.com with their membership discount code.
We are continually seeking new voices to share their perspectives and expertise through our book series. AASLH publications connect the people engaged in history work to new questions, ideas, perspectives, and each other. By featuring current issues, trends, and best practices from throughout the history community, our books inform, inspire, challenge, and link together those who preserve and interpret the past. We’ve recently published books on house museums, interpreting women’s history, working as a history consultant, and more. Anyone engaged in history work can write for us; your experiences and knowledge can help others as we strive to offer relevant and timely guidance through our books.
New Books
Interpreting Christmas at Museums and Historic Sites
Edited by Kenneth C. Turino and Max van Balgooy
Paperback $50/Member Price $40
Ebook $44.50/Member Price $35.60
This work offers a wide range of perspectives on Christmas interpretation and practical guidance for planning, research, and programming by board members, staff, and volunteers involved at house museums, historic sites, history museums, and historical societies across the United States. Packed with fresh ideas and approaches by nearly two dozen scholars and leaders on topics like researching local Christmas traditions, interpreting historically accurate Christmas, tying holiday programming to the mission, and more, and they can easily be adapted for the unique needs of organizations of various budgets and capacities.
Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums and Other Nonprofit Organizations (2nd edition)
Heather Pressman, ed.
Paperback $38/Member Price $30.40
Ebook $36/Member Price $28.80
Recruiting and Managing Volunteers in Museums is back with a highly anticipated second edition! The new version is the perfect tool for anyone looking to start, maintain, revamp, or restart their museum’s volunteer program. It offers new approaches to engaging community members in your organization and bringing diverse groups of volunteers into any department at your institution. Additionally, it provides practical advice on how to plan for and include volunteers in building a sustainable and exciting future for your museum. Whether you’re a seasoned volunteer manager or new to the field, this book offers valuable insights and strategies to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of museum volunteer management.
Books by Topic
Browse our full catalogue of books here.
AASLH Course Textbooks
- Exhibit Makeovers: A Do-It-Yourself Workbook for Small Museums, 2nd edition
- Financial Fundamentals for Historic House Museums
- The Museum Educator’s Manual, 2nd edition
- Registration Methods for the Small Museum
- Things Great and Small: Collections Management Policies, 2nd edition
Administration and Marketing
- Change is Required: Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum
- Rebranding: A Guide for Historic Houses, Museums, Sites, and Organizations
- Museum Mercenary: A Handbook for Independent Museum Professionals
- Leadership Matters: Leading Museums in an Age of Discord, 2nd edition
- Leading Museums Today: Theory and Practice
- Marketing on a Shoestring Budget: A Guide for Small Museums and Historic Sites
- Free and Easy Website Design for Museums and Historic Sites
Archives
- Archives 101
- Archival Basics: A Practical Manual for Working with Historical Collections
- Organizing Archival Records, 4th edition
Collections Management
- Registration Methods for the Small Museum
- The Care and Display of Historic Clothing
- The Care of Prints and Drawings, 2nd edition
- Textile Collections: Preservation, Access, Curation, and Interpretation in the Digital Age
Education and Interpretation
- The Museum Educator’s Manual, 2nd edition
- Exhibit Makeovers: A Do-It-Yourself Workbook for Small Museums, 2nd edition
- Interpreting Slavery with Children and Teens at Museums and Historic Sites
- Interpreting the Legacy of Women’s Suffrage at Museums and Historic Sites
- Doing Women’s History in Public: A Handbook for Interpretation at Museums and Historic Sites
- Museums and Millennials: Engaging the Coveted Patron Generation
- Interpreting the Environment at Museums and Historic Sites
- 101 Museum Programs Under $100: Proven Programs That Work on a Shoestring Budget
Finances
- Endowment Essentials for Museums
- Beyond the Bake Sale: Fundraising for Local History Organizations
- Is Your Museum Grant-Ready?
Historic Houses
- New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-Term Preservation of America’s Historic Houses, 2nd edition
- Doing Women’s History in Public: A Handbook for Interpretation at Museums and Historic Sites
- Reimagining Historic House Museums: New Approaches and Proven Solutions
Small Museums
- Beyond the Bake Sale: Fundraising for Local History Organizations
- Registration Methods for the Small Museum
- Rebranding: A Guide for Historic Houses, Museums, Sites, and Organizations
- Archives 101
- New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-Term Preservation of America’s Historic Houses, 2nd edition
- 101 Museum Programs Under $100: Proven Programs That Work on a Shoestring Budget
- Is Your Museum Grant-Ready?
- Marketing on a Shoestring Budget: A Guide for Small Museums and Historic Sites
- Museum Operations: A Handbook of Tools, Templates, and Models
- Free and Easy Website Design for Museums and Historic Sites
Students/Intro to the Field
- Introduction to Public History: Interpreting the Past, Engaging Audiences
- Defining Memory: Local Museums and the Construction of History in America’s Changing Communities, 2nd edition
- Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums, 3rd edition
- Museum Operations: A Handbook of Tools, Templates, and Models
News and Reviews
Kimberly Kenney’s Exploring the American Presidency through 50 Historic Treasures was reviewed in Booklist. “It’s easy to find books about the presidents. However, while biographies teach us about presidents, only artifacts ‘have a unique power to convey the immediacy of history.’ Only material culture, the examination of artifacts, conveys the raw, ‘uninterpreted story of our past.'” (February 2023)
Tegan Kehoe’s Exploring American Healthcare through 50 Historic Treasures was featured in the Boston Globe’s book section (January 2022) and received a “highly recommended” review in Choice, the Association of College and Research Libraries premier review journal for undergraduate libraries (September 2022): “The volume will be a great tool for students of public health history, presenting tangible evidence from the late 1700s to the present.”
Monument Culture: International Perspectives on the Future of Monuments in a Changing World edited by Laura A. Macaluso and Interpreting Religion at Museums and Historic Sites edited by Gretchen Buggeln and Barbara Franco were reviewed in NCPH’s The Public Historian (August 2021).
NCPH’s The Public Historian reviewed Doing Women’s History in Public: A Handbook for Interpretation at Museums and Historic Sites by Heather Huyck, Reimagining Historic House Museums: New Approaches and Proven Solutions edited by Kenneth C. Turino and Max A. van Balgooy, and Interpreting the Environment at Museums and Historic Sites by Debra A. Reid and David D. Vail (May 2021).
Susan Fletcher’s 2020 book Exploring the History of Childhood and Play through 50 Historic Treasures won first place in the Nonfiction-History, Science, and Research category in the 2021 Colorado Authors’ League Book Awards. This work was also selected by Booklist as one of the top ten sports books of the year (August 2020).
Commemoration: The American Association for State and Local History Guide, edited by Seth C. Bruggeman, was reviewed in NCPH’s The Public Historian (August 2020).
Exploring Women’s Suffrage through 50 Historic Treasures by Jessica Jenkins was reviewed in Booklist. “This unique, fascinating book carries the reader into the struggle surrounding the 19th Amendment, presenting fifty essays about objects related to the people and events that inched the suffragists closer to success” (March 2020).
Prospective Authors
Do you have a book idea?
“Somebody somewhere has solved the problem that bothers you. Somewhere somebody can use your ideas. Here is the meeting place for questions and answers. Send in yours.” AASLH Shop Talk, December 1949
Every history practitioner has expertise and wisdom to share about the tools and techniques they use in their work interpreting state and local history. In your work, chances are at some point you’ve wished for a book, webpage, or colleague to guide you or answer questions about an unfamiliar task or new concept. Maybe you found a book that helped. Maybe you found a book that was almost right, but not written for your small or all-volunteer site. Maybe you found no book at all. We want to publish books that directly address the needs of sites of all sizes doing different kinds of history work. And for that, we need your valuable knowledge gained from hands-on experience in the field, working with visitors and artifacts.
Anyone can write for AASLH. Members, nonmembers, directors, docents, curators, volunteers, retirees, and students all have knowledge to share with the field. Potential authors benefit from the mentorship of our editorial board as they research and write their book, and we especially encourage submissions from first-time and BIPOC authors. The whole process usually takes 12-18 months, and starts with a conversation with the Managing Editor or the submission of an abstract. From there, we can determine if your idea is a fit for our book series and what steps to take next.
Let us know what kind of books you would use in your work, and if you have knowledge to share. Your contribution can benefit colleagues around the country and we look forward to hearing from you.
Contact us
Where to Purchase
AASLH books are sold on our publisher’s website and on Amazon.com. AASLH members receive 20% off at Rowman.com with their membership discount code.