Not all microbiologists are employed by high level R1 universities, businesses or culture collections. Many are employed in primary teaching functions or even in somewhat “middle of the road” institutions where research is desirable and encouraged but is not a primary job function. Never-the-less all of these microbiologists need to maintain culture collections. In some cases, these are considered to be “teaching” collections but they can become of increased value when students isolate interesting microbes or when they conduct short undergraduate projects as part of their education. These collections therefore face three distinct sets of problems. First, they have the same financial problems as those in larger universities. Second, they frequently must be maintained by undergraduate technicians so there are problems with constant staff turnover. Third, and perhaps most important, their very existence is overlooked (even by local industries) so potential sources of funds for maintenance and development are by-passed. Also unlike collections at major institutions, these non-R1 collections often possess relatively larger numbers of unidentified (but not totally uncharacterized) strains so the scientist’s ability to interest larger collections in the material is compromised. Finally, if such collections are accessed, customers frequently wonder why holders charge for the access. Ultimately these collections face nearly certain destruction upon retirement of the primary microbiologists involved with the resulting loss of the material. This talk traces such a collection under these exact conditions. The information provided will not simply present the problems; it will provide some ideas for potential solution.