Tag Archives: Institute of Museum and Library Services

IMLS Targeted for Elimination—How Museums Can Prepare and Advocate

On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Woodrow Wilson Center at the Smithsonian Institution “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” While the full impact of this order is still unfolding, museums that rely on IMLS resources should take immediate steps to safeguard critical information. IMLS websites and databases may be taken down soon, limiting access to funding guidelines, research reports, and professional development materials. If your institution depends on these resources, now is the time to download and archive what you need.

If your museum has an active IMLS grant, there’s reason to believe that existing awards will be honored, but based on past experience with federal grant funding disruptions, delays are highly likely. Be proactive in communicating with your IMLS program officer, tracking your grant-related expenses, and preparing contingency plans for potential funding interruptions.

This Executive Order may also signal broader cuts to federal cultural funding. It wouldn’t be surprising to see similar threats to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Gallery of Art, and even the Smithsonian Institution. If these agencies are reduced or eliminated, the impact on museums, historic sites, and cultural organizations nationwide will be profound.

If your museum is affected by these potential cuts, now is the time to act. Inform your board, staff, members, and community stakeholders about what this means for your institution. Contact your elected representatives in Congress and urge them to protect federal support for museums, libraries, and cultural heritage. Without direct advocacy from the field, lawmakers may assume these cuts will go unnoticed.

For more details, see the full Executive Order here: White House Executive Orders.

Continue to speak up! Museums, historic sites, historical societies, and libraries matter—let’s make sure Congress knows it.

Exploring Sustainability in Museums: A New Graduate Course at GWU

This spring, I’m excited to launch a new graduate course at George Washington University, Creating Sustainable Museums. Designed for those new to the topic, the course combines theory with practice to explore how museums can address sustainability through financial stability, social equity and access, and environmental responsibility.

At the heart of the course are three core texts that introduce students to sustainability’s principles, history, and practical applications. We begin with Jeremy Caradonna’s Sustainability: A History, a compelling exploration of sustainability’s roots in the 18th-century deforestation crises and the consumer revolution. Caradonna introduces key figures like John Muir and Gifford Pinchot and influential movements such as the Club of Rome. He also explains foundational terms like lifecycle analysis, greenwashing, carbon footprints, and B Corporations. By tracing sustainability’s evolution, the book helps students understand that this is not just a modern buzzword but a framework deeply embedded in our history and practices (although it becomes very dense in the second half of the 20th century).

Continue reading →

Why There? Figuring Out the Presence of America’s History Organizations

As part of a project to develop a new framework for AASLH‘s professional development/continuing education program, I plotted history organizations onto a map of the United States using a subset of IMLS’s database of museums. That’s a big category that includes history museums, historical societies, historic preservation organizations, historic house museums, and general museums that include history as a major topic and while there is some discussion about the comprehensiveness of the IMLS database, it’s the best information we have available and for my project, more than sufficient to get a sense of the big picture.

As you’ll see in the map below, history organizations are mostly located in the eastern half of the US. Start at the southern tip of Texas and draw an imaginary line due north and the lion’s share is on the right side of the map.

History organizations in the United States. Red is the location of historical societies and historic preservation organizations; green is history museums and house museums; and blue is general museums. Data source: IMLS, 2018. Map: Engaging Places.

That’s probably something we all suspected but now can visualize it better. When I’ve shown this map to a few people, they concluded that it’s because there’s much more history in the East. But take a look at the heat map below while recalling the US history timeline, and you’ll come to a different conclusion. Continue reading →

Looking to Get Started with an IMLS Application?

This fall I’ll be teaching a project management class in the Museum Studies Program at George Washington University (GW) and the final project will be writing a grant application to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The final project gives graduate students a real-life experience and provides museums with a foundation for an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant application.

If you’ve been thinking about applying for IMLS grant to improve the care of your collections, better engage your community, or improve learning through your museum but have been too busy or unsure where to begin, GW graduate students may be able to help. It’s part of our effort to serve the museum field, especially smaller institutions that are often juggling too many responsibilities without sufficient resources.

IMLS’ Museums for America (MFA) is one of the best federal grant programs available because it supports “projects that strengthen the ability of an individual museum to serve its public.” That’s pretty flexible but projects do need to focus on one of three areas: Continue reading →

What Does a Trump Presidency Mean for IMLS?

President-elect Trump continues to demonstrate that he doesn’t plan to govern like his predecessors, having recently nominated department heads who are at odds with the mission of their departments. What does that mean for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), whose Director and its National Museum and Library Services Board are appointed by the President and whose authorization and funding are approved by the President? Most house museums and historic sites know IMLS for its grant programs (e.g., Museums for America) but they also conduct research on the state of the museum field (e.g., museum database); tackle national issues that are important to museums (e.g, preservation of collection, digital platforms); and fund the Museum Assessment Program (managed by the American Alliance of Museums) and Collections Assessment for Preservation Program (managed by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works).

September 11 Memorial Museum visits by President Obama in 2014 and Presidential candidate Trump in 2016. Note the differences in how the groups are moving through the museum.

At this point, it seems President Trump will have little interest in museums or libraries, which could be good or bad, depending on Continue reading →

New Deputy Director for Museum Services Appointed at IMLS

Paula Gangopadhyay, deputy director of museum services, IMLS

At Museums Advocacy Day, Kathryn Matthew, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, introduced the new deputy director for museum services, Paula Gangopadhyay.

I didn’t get a chance to meet her but she’s familiar with the challenges and opportunities that are faced by history museums and historic sites on a daily basis. She was appointed last month and according to the IMLS web site:

She has worked in small, medium and large museums and cultural organizations, as well as government, business and education sectors, where she led systemic change and positive community impact at local, state and national levels. Ms. Gangopadhyay is a respected thought-leader on innovation in education and has been the recipient of several state and national awards and recognitions. Ms. Gangopadhyay has held a variety of positions including, serving as the Chief Learning Officer at The Henry Ford museums from 2008 to 2015; Executive Director of the Plymouth Community Arts Council from 2006 to 2008; Curator of Education, Public Programs, Visitor Services and Volunteers at the Public Museum of Grand Rapids from 2002 to 2006; and Executive Director of the Great Lakes Center for Education, Research and Practice from 2000 to 2001. She was Executive Director of the Commission for Lansing Schools Success (CLASS) from 1998 to 2000 and Executive Director of Meridian Historical Village from 1995 to 1998. As an independent evaluation consultant for over seven years, she has led formative and summative evaluation directed at producing measurable outcomes. Gangopadhyay received her B.A. and M.A. in history from Indore University (India), her post-graduate certification in archival, museum, and editing studies from Duquesne University, Pittsburg, PA, and an education policy fellowship from the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL).

She’ll probably be visiting national and regional museum conferences this year, so be sure to welcome her!

A Wet but Successful Museums Advocacy Day

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Washington DC was cold and grim yesterday as hundreds of museum advocates visited the offices of senators and congressmen to encourage their support for the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the charitable tax deduction. I had a short but very productive meeting with the staff in Congressman Van Hollen’s office, who has been a long-standing supporter of museums, libraries, and historic preservation, so despite the wet weather, my day felt great. I was also reminded how many other people are also promoting their causes and how easy it is for the value of museums and historic sites to get drowned out by others.

On Monday, we prepared for our visits with several solid briefings on IMLS and education policy, hearing some good news (the American Institute for Conservation will manage the Conservation Assessment Program, following the dissolution of Heritage Preservation) and some frustrating news (the recently adopted Every Student Succeeds Act restores history and civics to the curriculum but President Obama’s recently submitted budget eliminated the funding). Of course, it was really fun seeing colleagues from around the country and hearing about the interesting work they’re doing (l discovered Building Public Will for Arts and Culture, which is surprisingly similar to the History Relevance Campaign).

Thanks to the American Alliance of Museums for coordinating this event!

Free DIY Assessment for Your Collections

Rembrant's personal museum at Rembrant Huis, Amsterdam.

Rembrant’s personal study collection at Rembrant Huis, Amsterdam.

Historic sites have incredibly complex collections that range from furniture and photos to buildings and landscapes. Figuring out priorities for collections care can be daunting but thankfully, the University of Illinois Libraries with the help of IMLS funding, recently created a Preservation Self-Assessment Program (PSAP). It’s a free online tool that helps collection managers evaluate the condition of materials, storage and exhibit environments, and institutional policies for books, paper documents, photographs, recordings, films, and architectural prints in historic sites, museums, archives, and libraries. In addition, there’s a Format ID Guide, which includes identification cheatsheets in case you can’t tell a blue print from a Diazo print.

Staff and volunteers at any level of experience can use the PSAP. The program asks questions about your the materials in your collection, storage and exhibition environments, and collections policies to develop a unique profile for your organization and potential priorities for collections care. It includes additional help to explain concepts and principles, showing examples along the way. The application runs in your web browser; no software installation is necessary. No limit is placed on the amount of items or collections you assess; all data is securely stored on University of Illinois servers. The Illinois Heritage Association has a lengthy overview with more details.

Even though PSAP doesn’t cover everything you’ll encounter in your collections, it’ll help you with a significant part. Now someone needs to get to work on a Museum Self-Preservation Program in Illinois.

Is it Time for a Membership Program Tune-up?

One of the basic ways to raise funds for museums and historic sites is through membership. It’s particularly valuable because those funds are unrestricted and pay for utilities, insurance, office supplies, maintenance, and yes, even salaries–those essential expenses that usually don’t excite donors. We hope that most members will renew, thus increasing revenue while maintaining expenses, and a few will become more engaged and eventually become donors who contribute the funds that really make a difference.

On the other hand, membership programs are a continual management challenge for non-profit organizations. The expense of maintaining a basic membership rarely covers the cost of administration (the printing and mailing of member newsletters, membership cards, and renewal notices). Complicating matters is that it doesn’t seem that people want to be “joiners” any longer–membership in all types of organizations, including unions, service clubs, professional associations, political parties, churches, and even bowling leagues has fallen. If the membership piece of the pyramid is getting smaller, that means the number of donors will fall as well.

Museums and museum associations are rethinking membership to overcome these challenges by exploring some new directions and possibilities, including:

1. Enlarging the pool of potential members (and other supporters). Begin with a preliminary step of gathering contact information for as many potential supporters as possible. Some may become members who pay annual dues, others will pay admission to attend events, and some will support a cause with money, time, or talent. The Dallas Museum of Art went so far as to Continue reading →

IMLS’ Count of Museums in the US May Be Exaggerated

Looking for museums in your county or state? Want to know how you compare to other museums across the nation? You’ll find them in the Museum Universe Data File recently produced by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). It’s a free database of museums in the US that includes names, addresses, contact information, total revenue and expenses, and GIS data.

IMLS held a webinar today to explain the datafile and answer questions. They constructed the list from several sources, including the Internal Revenue Service and Foundation Center, which were then reconciled to remove duplicates. Data will be updated every six months based on continuing research and community feedback. IMLS will be using the datafile to conduct sampling surveys for future research projects, such as collections care, to inform their programs and share results with the field and Congress, however, you are encouraged to use it as well.

The big news is that of the 35,144 total museums in the US, most are related to Continue reading →