FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
October 10, 2006
Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Eileen Maxwell, emaxwell@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov
IMLS Announces Youth Action Committee Meetings
Washington, DC--On
October 5th and 6th, the Institute of Museum and Library
and Services (IMLS) convened the first meeting of the
Youth Action Committee, a panel of experts including museum
and library officials, educators and researchers in the
formal and informal learning fields, policymakers, funders,
and representatives of youth services organizations. The
committee was formed as part of the Institute’s
Engaging America’s Youth initiative to examine the
important role that museums and libraries play in delivering
quality programming and services to people aged nine to
nineteen in a variety of learning settings.
“As a nation we are increasingly aware
of the role that cultural institutions play in engaging
youth, both in school and out of school,” said IMLS
Director Anne-Imelda M. Radice. “Serving youth is
core to the mission of most museums and libraries, and
IMLS has a long history of grant-making, research, and
convening experts to support this mission. This first
meeting of the Youth Action Committee will advance our
goal of describing the impact these institutions have
on young people and using the results to help them have
an even greater effect.”
In February 2006, IMLS contracted with the
Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI) to analyze the
agency’s youth development grants. ILI then surveyed
approximately 400 grants awarded between 1998 and 2003
and conducted in-depth interviews with 15 selected grantees.
The Youth Action Committee was formed to
provide feedback to ILI on the content and organization
of its final report; offer expertise and commentary from
their respective fields; examine IMLS-funded projects
to develop the characteristics of exemplary programs and
place the projects in the context of known effective practices;
and help develop a strategy for disseminating the results.
Committee members were chosen for their ability to evaluate
the programs represented in the study sample. Last week’s
meetings --and another set to be held on November 2nd
and 3rd-- include presentations by the selected grantees.
The Engaging America’s Youth initiative
will result in two publications, a handbook for implementing
youth programs and recommendations for policymakers based
on the research findings.
Click
here for a list of Youth Action Committee members;
please also see the list
of grant project participants.
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