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Another conservator piping in: you might also want to consider if you need anything special in terms of health and safety for display cases where you might put radioactive geological samples (you may or may not do that but 'earth sciences' always makes me think 'ooh, Geiger counter time!').

I'm not American so I can't recommend any training or workshops but there are a good deal of decent books out there to explore:

• Exhibition Design: An Introduction (2nd Edition) by Philip Hughes
  
  
• Creating Exhibitions: Collaboration in the Planning, Development, and Design of Innovative Experiences by Polly McKenna-Cress and Janet Kamien
  
  
• Exhibition Design by David Dernie
  
  
• Museum Exhibition Planning and Design by Elizabeth Bogle
  
  
• Basics Interior Design 02: Exhibition Design by Pam Locker
  
  
• Affordable Exhibition Design by Francesc Zamora
  
  They aren't cheap but you might be able to find some through libraries in your area depending on where you live.
  
  Congratulations, this is an amazing opportunity! Good luck and have fun. :D

I would suggest taking a look at the National Park Service's Museum Handbook (can download as PDF or view specific chapters). It's a pretty authoritative source and provides best practices for many objects/materials. It's kind of a beast to navigate but I can't tell you how helpful it is. The NPS also has a series called Conserve O Grams, which are shorter documents that discuss specific object mounting/handling/storing subjects.
Other online sources are the AIC Preservation Wiki and the NEDCC Preservation Leaflets, although these are more specific to documents and photographs. Might still be helpful though :)
My favorite book on preservation is the Preservation Management Handbook which is another text that is organized by the type of material you're working with.
Gaylord Archival also has some free resources on their website. I haven't reviewed these myself but they may prove helpful. Best of luck to you!

My library (a historic private one, plus conservation lab/events venue) just got this book in.
It's a little pricey but if you can get it via an inter-library loan, go for it. Read it over the past month and while my place is pretty much up to these standards thanks to good planning, it was very insightful to me (as humble visitor services staff!). Extremely thorough about planning in ALL areas.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Care-Keeping-Cultural-Facilities/dp/0759123608/

These next ones don't have many reviews, and some are a few years old, but may also be worth looking at for sheer basics.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0759111987/

http://www.amazon.com/Museum-Administration-Introduction-American-Association/dp/0759102945/

Also, just check out top sellers (obviously, exclude the true-crime and fiction/novels) in the category on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/16233621/


For general non-profit stuff, this one seems really well reviewed. A friend and I have been working on planning one, so I did a good deal of searching.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470547979/

Ooh, great prompt!

The Smithsonian’s Accessibility Guidelines is super useful for anyone who has a hand in designing exhibitions. There are some great Universal Design recommendations online as well.

I also really enjoy reading other institutions’ guidelines for gallery text. I’ve definitely consulted the V&A’s guide and the Getty’s guide before.

This may be a little entry level, but Serrel’s Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach is another great resource for writing exhibition text.

For exhibit labels (text and graphics that accompany exhibits), try Serrell's Exhibit Labels. ADA, or your local equivalent, is either required or strongly advised; beyond that The Smithsonian has published a guide for Accessible Exhibition Design.

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For environmental control for collection care, it depends on multiple factors, especially the type of collections housed. For example, The Art Collector's Handbook by Rozell works best for general art objects, while you would probably want to read something like Ogden's Caring for American Indian Objects for objects of similar materials and make. I've seen Nitrate Won't Wait by Slide, and A Light Affliction by Binder on the shelves of my friend who works in film preservation. Otherwise, as far as I know, there aren't any "standards" like the CE or ANSI for collections preservation.

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Hope this helps.

Exhibit Labels by Serrell is a great resource.

I also really like From Knowledge to Narrative by Roberts. Roberts walks through the process of creating an (actual) exhibit while balancing the various competing demands of the different groups that are working on the exhibit.

Congrats and good luck!

The three programs /u/necroturd recommended are excellent, and for the most part free.

I would also recommend thinking about your cataloging process completely before starting. You really don't want to be halfway through the process of cataloging your artifacts when you realize how you decided to do it won't work for whatever reason.

To help with that, I'd suggest picking up a copy of Museum Registration Methods. It lays out pretty simply most of the different aspects of collections management.

This book is an interesting read. Not quite a “science” book per say but very fascinating.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0500516766/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

I have also been interested in this book, which I am actually considering as a gift for my own partner who is a doctor.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1905367872/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

Something more creative than useful, and a bit “young” but I’ve always loved The Museum at Purgatory

Hi there... exhibit labels are super tough and require a bunch of revisions. Don't interpret continually revising as failure or that you're not doing a good job... it's the nature of the craft. Do some tests and ask visitors, if you can.

That said, I highly reccomend "Exhibit Labels" by Beverly Serrell: http://www.amazon.com/Exhibit-Labels-Interpretive-Approach-VIP/dp/0761991069/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404587205&sr=8-1&keywords=beverly+serrell

She gives a lot of concrete examples and methods for different groups. A necessity. You don't see a lot of museum books with 5 stars on Amazon... I'm sure it's saved many-a-curator as well. :)

Most nonprofits have a "board fee" or required donation. However, it is the nonprofit's director's responsibility to make that clear when appointing board members. If an MOA was never written regarding your board appointment, and/or it doesn't contain anything about a required donation/fee, your director has no place to suddenly require this of you.

That said, board members should have an active role in fundraising.

I just finished a graduate level nonprofit management class and used the Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management. If you're interested in further board service, I would suggest getting a copy: https://www.amazon.com/Jossey-Bass-Handbook-Nonprofit-Leadership-Management/dp/0470392509

Do what everyone else so far has said, and also buy yourself a copy of MRM5. If you can fit on one more hat, play the role of volunteer manager; 1 - 2 dedicated volunteers can remove a lot of the burdens facing a small museum's staff.

Loot - Its an easy read since its written for the general public and not museologists but it covers the bases of looted antiquities through case studies.

http://www.amazon.com/Loot-Battle-Stolen-Treasures-Ancient/dp/0805090886

Another resource I have found helpful is "Saving Stuff" by Don Williams.

https://www.amazon.com/ Saving-Stuff-Collectibles-Heirlooms-Possessions/dp/0743264169

It assumes no conservatorial knowledge and covers a wide range of materials.

https://www.amazon.com/Exhibiting-Cultures-Poetics-Politics-Display/dp/1560980214/ref=nodl_