policy and advocacy

Issue Brief - Museum Funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services

Promoting Lifelong Learning and Protecting Our National Heritage by Supporting America's Museums

ACTION NEEDED
We urge Congress to:

• Support no less than the President’s proposed increase to $38.915 million for the Office of Museum Services within IMLS in the FY06 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.

Table: OMS Annual Appropriations, FY94 to Present (in millions of dollars)
Notes: Figures are not adjusted for inflation.  Prior to FY03, OMS funding was in the Interior Appropriation bill.  Source: IMLS.

TALKING POINTS

• IMLS encourages excellence and leverages state, local, and private funds.  National competition is a catalyst for excellence and improves museum service nationwide. Federal leadership helps disseminate models and puts a spotlight on the remarkable resources that museums bring to education and to communities across the United States.  In addition, peer-reviewed IMLS grants assure state, local, and private funders that a museum has met high national standards and is worthy of their additional support.
• IMLS reinforces the role of museums in lifelong learning.  Funding supports projects that address a full range of learning opportunities in museums, including developing exhibitions, working with schools to develop curriculum and programs, creating family and adult programs, and developing internet content. American museums provide over 18 million instructional hours to K-12 schoolchildren. Seventy-one percent work with school curriculum specialists to tailor programs to support local and state curriculum standards, according to the 2003 edition of the IMLS’s report True Needs, True Partners. IMLS helps to create a larger framework for learning by promoting collaboration among museums and libraries and other community organizations.
• IMLS helps museums care for our national heritage.  Although cared for at a particular site, museum collections belong to all of us and we all have a role and responsibility for their care.  According to the1989 National Museum Survey by the American Association of Museums, U.S. museums care for more than 750 million objects and specimens, which are key parts of our cultural and scientific heritage. IMLS supports projects for collections management and care; research, scholarly and popular publications; and exhibit planning design and implementation.
• IMLS encourages public access.  An important role for IMLS is to explore how the growing use of technology can bring the rich content of museums into America’s libraries, schools, and homes.
• IMLS levels the playing field.  Many museums are located in areas where they are the only cultural resource and where significant private support is simply not available.  IMLS specifically targets support for these institutions, providing vital competitive grants.

BACKGROUND
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent Federal agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners.  The Office of Museum Services (OMS), responsible for museum programs within IMLS, is dedicated to supporting museums in carrying out their public service, educational, and stewardship roles in connecting the whole of society to the cultural, historical, and scientific understanding that constitute our heritage, held in trust for the nation.

In reauthorizing IMLS in 2004, Congress underscored the essential contributions of museums to a democratic society, which leads us to new visions where learning is seen as a community wide responsibility supported by both formal and informal education.  America's nearly 16,000 museums attract more than 865 million visits annually from families, children, and individuals seeking enriched learning resources and cultural contact through museum collections, exhibits, and tours.  OMS supports all types of museums, including art, history, science, children's, specialized institutions, and living collections such as zoos and aquariums.

FY04 funding for OMS was $31.4 million, and FY05 funding is $34.7 million. President Bush has proposed an increase to $38.9 million for FY06.