The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum (MVTM) is located in the annex of the former Rosamond Woolen Company in Almonte, Ontario. Constructed in 1867 this National Historic Site of Canada now features a blend of the old and new, all related to the history of the Mississippi Valley and the textile industry. Exhibitions range from early mill history and period mill equipment to cottage industry and eclectic modern fibre art exhibitions. Our museum combines traditional static and working displays of textile equipment and processes with activities and events focusing on the region’s heritage, culture and role of the textile industry in the development of Canada. It is the purpose of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum to establish and maintain a museum that: i. interprets the history of the woollen industry in the Mississippi River Valley, including the effects that the industry had on the social, cultural and industrial development of the region; ii. interprets the history of the textile industry and the use of machine produced textiles in Canada; iii. provides a centre for the study of industrial textiles; iv. encourages and participates in the preservation of its historic building and artifacts; and v.exhibits and educates on fibre arts. The collections of the Museum reflect our statement of purpose. This statement is the master directive from which all policies are derived and as such, must adequately express the structure, goal and objectives of the museum’s endeavours. The MVTM serves residents of Lanark County as well as visitors and tourists to the region, providing a venue to illustrate the textile industry of the county. The museum strives to collect, preserve, research, exhibit, and interpret artifacts, natural history specimens and archival material pertaining to the textile industry in Lanark County from 1870 to 1979. To augment the educational role of the institution, the MVTM will develop a reference library. Publications within this library will focus upon the origin, growth and development of the textile industry.