FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2009
IMLS Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Jeannine Mjoseth, jmjoseth@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov
AAM Press Contact
202-218-7704
Dewey Blanton, dblanton@aam-us.org
Museum Assessment Program Selects 2009
Participants
106 U.S. Museums Demonstrate Commitment to Improvement,
Public Service
Washington, DC—The Museum
Assessment Program (MAP), an effective self-improvement tool for America’s
museums for nearly 30 years, has selected 106 U.S. institutions to participate
in the initiative in 2009. A process of extensive self-study, peer review and
innovation, MAP enables museums to improve operations in a range of areas, thereby
empowering them to better fulfill their mission of public service. MAP is
administered by the American Association of Museums (AAM), through a cooperative
agreement with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
“MAP is a self-motivated process, leading to improvement
in museum effectiveness and efficiency,” said Dr. Anne-Imelda M. Radice,
Director of IMLS. “Our agency was created by Congress to ensure and
enhance the public service provided by museums and libraries everywhere. MAP
is essential to our meeting that worthy objective.”
MAP participants in 2009 include museums from 38 states and
Puerto Rico, encompassing institutions of all sizes, from the Carnegie Museum
of Natural History in Pittsburgh to the Jesse James Farm and Museum in Kearney,
Missouri, as well as all museum disciplines, ranging from the Decorative Arts
Center of Ohio in Lancaster to the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace in Hillsboro, West
Virginia to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. The
range of MAP participants reflects the broad scope of America’s museums, and a
complete list of the 2009 selectees is available at
www.aam-us.org/map/2009-Museum-Assessment-Program-Participants.cfm.
“MAP provides a structured, systematic means for museums
across America to examine their operations and see where and how they can do
better,” said AAM president Ford W. Bell. “The pillars of the
public service mandate of all museums are scholarship, accountability, and
sustainability; MAP likewise has its roots in these qualities, and has better
enabled museums to serve their communities.”
Since its creation in 1981, MAP has provided more than 5,000
assessments to some 3,500 institutions across America.
MAP participants have found the program invaluable.
“The Museum Assessment Program helped us as an organization to begin
thinking about museum best practices. This will help us in our goal to become
accredited. This experience opened up dialogue and instigated a working
relationship with the governing authority [not previously seen] at this level.
The peer review was particularly helpful in this regard,” reported
executive director Billye Chabot of the Blount Mansion Museum in Knoxville, Tennessee.
MAP participants apply in one of four assessment categories:
collections management, governance, institutional or public dimension. Over the
years, MAP participants have reported a range of results: a refining of
institutional priorities; improved communication with the public and
stakeholders; energized staff and governing authorities; and improved
clarity concerning the museum’s mission.
The lifeblood of MAP is the selfless effort of peer
reviewers, who volunteer their time and expertise to facilitate field-wide
improvements. And in MAP, the benefits run in both directions.
“I love to see first-hand what other museums and
museum professionals are doing,” said Elspeth Inglis, assistant
director of programs at Michigan’s Kalamazoo Valley Museum and a peer
reviewer since 2001. “I think an ‘outside eye’ is an interesting
perspective, as I get so immersed in my own work at my own institution.
Looking in at others helps me gain new perspective on my institution and
my work.”
There are more than 1,250 peer reviewers, who contribute
more than 28,000 volunteer hours of service to MAP annually.
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