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 June 2007
Contact: Terry Davis davis@aaslh.org By now you should know about the Federal Formula Grant Coalition, and its work to secure state formula grants for museums through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Federal formula grants to the states for museums can leverage better ways to ensure the long-term stewardship of collections, to grow the professional skills of staff, and to give everyone in our nation local access to educational opportunity, information, and the cultural heritage that defines us as a nation. That access is key to creating an informed citizenry free to learn and make decisions regarding our future as a nation. Last fall the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) took the lead on asking members of Congress to write IMLS and ask that the agency explore the feasibility of formula grants for museums to parallel the federal formula grants IMLS currently provides to states for libraries. IMLS received letters from several members of Congress and in mid-December announced that the agency will undertake an effort to explore the feasibility of formula grants to the states to support museum services. Dr. Anne-Imelda M. Radice, director of IMLS said, “For fifty years there has been a population-based formula grant to each state and the territories to support library services. In recent years the museum community has been engaged in discussions about the feasibility of a similar program for museum services, and the agency has received several requests from members of Congress to explore the issue. This is a series issue and must be fully examined by bringing a variety of voices to the table.” IMLS has employed an outstanding strategist and policy advisory, Celeste Colgan, to take on this important project that will include a review of relevant funding models and working with community leaders, museum professionals, and educators across the country to convene local hearings to investigate the public’s need for museum services and the potential for meeting those needs through federal grants to states. A report will be published December 2007. This is, indeed, good news for the Federal Formula Grant Coalition. However, with a yearlong study and a report due December 2007, the Coalition cannot and will not wait for the report before moving forward with this important effort. During the first half of 2007 the Coalition will begin making its case to members of Congress and implementing strategies for gaining support for the initiative with IMLS’s reauthorization in 2009. The Coalition believes the feasibility study commissioned by IMLS will verify what we all know – museums need more money from the federal government and state governments in order to sustain themselves into the future. Last year, the Association of African American Museums became a member of the Federal Formula Grant Coalition, joining other national, regional and state museum service organizations in this initiative. AASLH will serve as the administrator for the Federal Formula Grant Coalition. Members of the Coalition can be found on the AASLH website at www.aaslh.org/htopics.htm. If you live in a state or region whose museum association has not signed on as a member of the Coalition or if your museum is represented by a national organization that is not a Coalition member, let them know you support the initiative and ask that they support it by becoming a member of the Federal Formula Grant Coalition. Working together we can secure a brighter financial future for America’s museums. Please help by asking all associations to join in on the effort. AASLH is a national association that provides leadership and support for its members who preserve and interpret state and local history in order to make the past more meaningful to all Americans. For more information about AASLH, please visit www.aaslh.org. Find out more about the Federal Formula Grants for Museums initiative on the AASLH web site, please click here to download the Federal Formula FAQS information. ###  |
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