FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Updated - June 7, 2005
Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Eileen Maxwell, emaxwell@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov
New IMLS Publication: Charting the Landscape/Mapping New Paths: Museums, Libraries, and K-12 Education
Washington, DC—The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has released a report on how museums
and libraries bolster K-12 education and lifelong learning in communities across the Nation. “Charting the Landscape, Mapping New
Paths: Museums, Libraries, and K-12 Learning,” is based on a workshop the Institute hosted August 30-31, 2004 at which more than
seventy educators, researchers, policymakers, and museum and library professionals examined K-12 collaborations among their organizations.
As the report notes, workshop participants agreed that in the 21st century, a competitive and successful society
will require people who never stop learning. It is essential, therefore, to build a foundation for lifelong learning during the elementary
and secondary school years. The responsibility for building that foundation and nurturing lifelong learning does not rest with schools
alone but cuts across institutional boundaries to include museums, libraries, and other community organizations.“Congress charges
the agency to encourage museum and libraries in carrying out their educational role as core providers of learning in conjunction with schools,
families, and communities,” writes Dr. Robert S. Martin, Director of IMLS, “With that mandate, IMLS possesses a unique vantage
point for bridging these communities and convening them.”
Three key challenges to developing a “learning society” with museum, library, and school partnerships
as a central element of that society emerged from the workshop:
- Successfully redefining education as a lifetime endeavor;
- Understanding the changing nature of professional roles;
- Moving beyond anecdotal evidence to show what works.
Workshop participants also identified steps that practitioners, policy-makers, and museum and library professionals and
educators should take to support such a society:
- Build a community of practice by creating a clearinghouse of best practices, funding innovative partnerships, and developing tools
for convening stakeholders.
- Build better relationships with education policy-makers, education associations, and parent and community organizations at the federal,
state and local level.
- Support research and evaluation that examines the impact of museums and libraries on K-12 formal and informal learning.
The report highlights projects and partnerships and can be used as a tool to lay a foundation for understanding the power
of museum, library, school, and community collaborations in cultivating lifelong learning societies.
It includes an appendix of selected resources,
most of which are available online and a useful glossary
of terms used throughout the workshop. To obtain free
copies of the report, email the Institute of Museum and
Library Services at imlsinfo@imls.gov,
or access
it electronically from the agency’s Web site. |