Institute of Museum and Library Services
Agency overview
Formed1996 (1996)
HeadquartersL'Enfant Plaza
Washington, D.C.
Employees65
Annual budget$227.8 million for 2015
Agency executive
Websitewww.imls.gov

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mission to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development.” The agency carries out its charge as it adapts to meet the changing needs of our nation’s museums and libraries and their communities. IMLS’s mission is essential to helping these institutions navigate change and continue to improve their services.[1] In fiscal year 2023, IMLS had a budget of $313.58 million.[2] As of 2023, IMLS currently has 70 full-time employees, many of whom still work remotely. In 2022, the employees voted to unionize, joining hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have joined the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) to “build power and have a voice at work.”[3]

The agency is a member of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, along with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.[4]

In creating IMLS, Congress observed that the federal library and museum programs are far reaching, spanning cultural, educational, scientific, and information policy matters. As Congress declared in the institute’s authorizing legislation, “Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens,” and an important role of the federal government is to promote education and access to information for people of all backgrounds, wherever located.[5] By supporting museums and libraries throughout the nation, IMLS enables these organizations to carry out their public service role of connecting the whole of society with the cultural, artistic, historical, natural, and scientific understandings that constitute our heritage—in order to achieve a better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and, ultimately, a better future for our citizens.

The Agency helps to ensure that all Americans have access to museum, library, and information services, and invests in new and exploratory approaches, as well as proven and tested methods. IMLS funds work that advances collective knowledge, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement. As well as projects that support broadband access and advancing digital literacy, learning and education, civic engagement, climate change, and services that address historic and growing inequities. The Agency also builds capacity within the museum and library fields to enable better service to communities through workforce development grants and to enhance community decision making by sharing trends and data.

IMLS supports a vast range of museums, including art, history, natural history, and children’s museums, zoos, science and technology centers, historic houses, nature centers, and botanical gardens. Similarly, IMLS invests in libraries across America, including public, academic, tribal, research, and special libraries, as well as other eligible institutions like archives, nonprofit cultural organizations, and universities.

The Agency has an expansive reach. IMLS is the largest source of federal funding for libraries in the nation, directing population-based funding to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US territories, and Freely Associated States through its Grants to States program.[6] In FY2022, IMLS awarded $257.2M to institutions across the country, of which $168.8M was through its Grants to States program.

In addition to its other responsibilities, IMLS annually awards the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, which is the nation’s highest honor for institutions that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. Since 1994, IMLS has presented the award to outstanding libraries and museums of all types and sizes that deeply impact their communities.[7]

IMLS is located at 955 L'Enfant Plaza North, SW, Suite 4000, Washington, D.C. 20024-2135.

History and purpose

IMLS was established by the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) on September 30, 1996, which includes the Library Services and Technology Act and the Museum Services Act. It consolidated the activities of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.[8] The MLSA was reauthorized in 2003 and again in 2010.[9] The law combined the Institute of Museum Services,[10][11] which had been in existence since 1976 as part of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, and the Library Programs Office of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement[12][13] which had been part of the Department of Education under various names since 1937.[14]

Lawmakers saw "great potential in an Institute that is focused on the combined roles that libraries and museums play in our community life."[15][16] As amended, MLSA authorizes IMLS to promote improvements in library services; to facilitate access to resources in libraries; to encourage resource sharing among libraries; to support museums in fulfilling their public service and educational roles; to encourage leadership and innovation to enhance museum services; to assist museums in the conservation of America's heritage; to support museums in achieving the highest standards of management and service to the public; and to support resource sharing among museums, libraries and other organizations. MLSA also authorizes IMLS to carry out and publish analyses of the impact of museum and library services.[17]

The act comes up for reauthorization every five years. It was most recently reauthorized on December 31, 2018 by President Donald J. Trump (PL 115-410).

Consolidation

Following a proposal by President George W. Bush, the activities of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science was consolidated under IMLS, along with some of the activities of the National Center for Education Statistics, in order to create a unified body for federal support of library and information policy.[18] The consolidation took effect in early 2008.

Leadership

When Congress passed the Library Services and Technology Act in 1996, it moved library responsibilities out of the Department of Education and created the IMLS as a new agency. The act stipulated that the agency maintain a rotating directorship starting with the former director of the Institute of Museum Services for a four-year term. In the fifth year, the directorship would pass to a representative from the field of library and information science. Each new director is appointed by the current president and confirmed by the Senate for a four-year term.[19]

Directors

Diane Frankel (1996): Prior to leading the agency through its transition to include federal library as well as museum programs, Frankel served as director of the Institute of Museum Services.[20]

Robert S. Martin (2001): Preceding his position at IMLS, Martin was a professor and interim director of the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman's University. He also served as Director and Librarian of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.[21][22] He articulated the convergence of new media in lifelong learning at the beginning of the millennium at the 21st Century Learners Conference in November, 2001.[23][24][25]

Former IMLS Director Robert S. Martin is congratulated by John Y. Cole, Director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, during his farewell reception. Martin was director from 2001–2005.

Anne-Imelda Radice (2006): She previously served as chief of staff for the Department of Education and as curator in the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. She earned a bachelor's degree from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts; a master's degree from Villa Schifanoia Graduate School of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy; a second master's from American University in Washington, D.C.; and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[26] Radice returned to IMLS in 2018 and currently serves as a senior advisor in the Office of the Director. She previously served as Director of the Division of Public Programs at NEH.[27]

Susan H. Hildreth (2011): She began her career as a branch librarian at the Edison Township Library in New Jersey, where she was president of the Public Library Association. She has also been the city librarian in Seattle and state librarian of California. In addition, Hildreth was deputy director of San Francisco Public Library.[28]

Kathryn K. Matthew (2015): A scientist with a 30-year museum career, Matthew's experience includes curation, collections management, and research roles at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and Cranbrook Institute of Science. Her experience includes fundraising and marketing roles at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the Virginia Museum of Natural History, The Nature Conservancy, the Historic Charleston Foundation, and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. She was also executive director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.[29]

Crosby Kemper III (2020): Previous director of the Kansas City Public Library, from 2005 until his confirmation as IMLS Director. Kemper’s career began in banking; he most recently served as CEO of UMB Financial Corporation. Kemper has received the Difference Maker Award from the Urban League of Kansas City, the William F. Yates Medallion for Distinguished Service from William Jewell College, and the 2010 Harmony Humanitarian Hoffman Legacy Award. His board service has included the Kansas City Symphony, the Black Archives of Mid-America, Union Station Kansas City, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, the Rabbit Hole—a center promoting children’s books—and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which operates Monticello.[30]

National Museum and Library Services Board

IMLS and the director are advised by the National Museum and Library Services Board, which was established by 20 U.S.C. § 9105a. The board, a 24-member advisory body that includes the IMLS director, the deputy director for the Office of Library Services, the deputy director for the Office of Museum Services, the general counsel, and 20 presidentially appointed individuals, advises on general policy and practices and helps with the selections for the National Medals for Museum and Library Service.[31]

Current Members[32]:

  • Brian Allen, Vermont
  • Joan Breier Brodsky, Illinois
  • Susan Lynn Gibbons, Connecticut
  • Amy Elizabeth Gilman, Wisconsin
  • William T. Harris, Texas
  • Lisa R. Hathaway, Florida
  • Julius C. Jefferson Jr., District of Columbia
  • Ashley Jordan, Pennsylvania
  • Cameron Kitchin, Ohio
  • MaryLynn Mack, California
  • Kelli Mosteller, Oklahoma
  • Dipesh Navsaria, Wisconsin
  • James G. Neal, New York
  • Annie Norman, Delaware
  • Halona Norton-Westbrook, Hawaii
  • Allison C. Perkins, North Carolina
  • Alan C. Price, Massachusetts
  • Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, New York
  • Ramiro S. Salazar, Texas
  • Jennie Stapp, Montana[33]

Strategic plan

The Institute of Museums and Library Services Strategic Plan for 2022-2026 has four major components: 1) Champion Lifelong Learning; 2) Strengthen Community Engagement; 3) Advance Collections Stewardship and Advancement and 4) Demonstrate Excellence in Public Service.[34]

Grants

The Institute of Museum and Library Services offers numerous grants for museums, libraries, and other cultural heritage institutions.[35] The grants support the IMLS's strategic goals of advancing "innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement."[36]

The Agency’s discretionary grants are selected through a highly respected and competitive peer review process, drawing on professionals located across the nation[37]. This work enables museums and libraries located in geographically and economically diverse areas to deliver essential services that make it possible for individuals and communities to flourish.

Office of Library Services

The Office of Library Services (OLS) supports the recruitment, training, and development of library staff, boards, and volunteers, helping to grow a skilled, professional workforce. OLS enhances library resources that foster early, digital, information, health, financial, media, civic, and other types of literacies, and encourages library and museum professionals and institutions to share and adopt best practices and innovations. IMLS is the largest source of federal funding for libraries in the nation[38].

Grants To States

The Grants to States program is the largest source of federal funding support for library services in the United States. IMLS funds enable State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs) to advance library services throughout all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the US territories, and Freely Associated States. The program cuts across all geographies and all community types with population-based formula grants administered through the SLAAs. The program also addresses a variety of different types of agency priorities, including broadband access and advancing digital literacy, workforce development, learning and education, civic engagement, climate change, and services that address historic and growing inequities.

Each year, approximately 1,500 Grants to States projects support the purposes and priorities outlined in the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). SLAAs may distribute the funds through competitive subawards to, or through cooperative agreements with, public, academic, research, school, or special libraries or consortia (for-profit and federal libraries are not eligible)[39].

Discretionary Library Grants

The Office of Library Services offers five funding opportunities: National Leadership Grants for Libraries, Native American Library Services: Basic Grants, Native American Library Services: Enhancement Grants, Native Hawaiian Library Services Grants, and Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program[40].

Office of Museum Services

The Office of Museum Services (OMS) supports the recruitment, training, and development of museum staff, boards, and volunteers, helping to grow a skilled, professional workforce. OMS enhances museum resources that foster early, digital, information, health, financial, media, civic, and other types of literacies.

Museums cover varying disciplines, and come in many sizes, including zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and arboretums; nature and science centers; history museums and historic sites; art museums; children’s museums; natural history museums; and specialized museums.

Museum Discretionary Grants

The Office of Museum Services offers seven competitive funding opportunities: Museums for America; Inspire! Grants for Small Museums and Museums Empowered (two special initiatives of the Museums for America program); 21st Century Museum Professional; National Leadership Grants for Museums; Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services; and Museum Grants for African American History and Culture, as well as the new Museum Grants for American Latino History and Culture[41].

American Latino Museum Internship and Fellowship Initiative

This initiative is designed to provide opportunities for internships and fellowships at American Latino museums for students enrolled in Institutions of Higher Education, including Hispanic-Serving Institutions. The initiative will nurture students carrying out studies relating to American Latino life, art, history, and culture[42].

Collections Assessment For Preservation Program (CAP)

CAP is administered by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC). Program provides small and mid-sized museums with partial funding toward an assessment of their policies and procedures relating to collections care and a study of their collections, buildings, and building systems[43].

Museum Assessment Program (MAP)

MAP is supported through a cooperative agreement between IMLS and the American Alliance of Museums. MAP offers museums an opportunity to strengthen operations and plan for the future through a low-cost, year-long process of self-assessment and consultative peer review.[44]

Research

The Office of Impact Assessment and Learning (OIAL) "supports the agency in its efforts to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas." OIAL performs three key functions: policy research, evaluations, and survey and data collection.[45]

Survey and data collection

  • Data Catalog – Data relating to grants administration and data about libraries, museums, and related organizations.
  • Public Library Survey (PLS) – collects data from 9,000 public library systems and 17,000 public library outlets.
  • State Library Agency Survey (SLAA) – provides descriptive data about state libraries.
  • Public Needs for Library and Museum Services Survey (PNLMS) – measures "expectations and satisfaction" with cultural heritage institutions through a household survey.
  • Museum Universe Data File (MUDF) – contains information about cultural heritage institutions in the United States.[46]
  • Administration Discretionary Grant Data – Records of grants funded by IMLS since FY 1996.

Public meetings

Agendas and published minutes:

References

  1. ↑ "Mission". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Annual Financial Report" (PDF). Institute of Museum and Library Services (PDF). Retrieved January 16, 2024. {{cite news}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "IMLS Employees Vote to Join AFGE".
  4. ↑ "National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities". Federal Register. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  5. ↑ "IMLS Statute" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "IMLS APR" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "About the National Medal".
  8. ↑ Blumenstein, Lynn. 2008. "Closing NCLIS Looks Back and Forward". Library Journal 133 (9): 20–21.
  9. ↑ "Timeline". Institute of Museum and Library Services. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
  10. ↑ The Nature and Level of Federal Support for Museums in Fiscal Years 1985 and 1986 : a Federal Study Mandated by Congress and Conducted by the Institute of Museum Services on Behalf of the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, Submitted to Congress February 1988. Washington, D.C.?: Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities, 1988.
  11. ↑ Hearing on the Reauthorization of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for Humanities, and the Institute of Museum Services Hearing before the Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session, Hearing Held in Washington, DC, June 17, 1993. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1993.
  12. ↑ "Library Unit in Ed. Dept. Is Renamed, Reshuffled. (Office of Libraries & Learning Technologies = Center for Education Improvement's Library Programs Div.)". American Libraries (Chicago, Ill.) 14 (1983): 72
  13. ↑ Ottina, John R. 1974. "United States Office of Education and the Library Role". American Libraries 5 (June): 315.
  14. ↑ Joeckel, Carleton B. (1936) "The New Federal Library Agency." Bulletin of the American Library Association 30, No. 7 (July): 529
  15. ↑ "IMLS At 20". IMLS History. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ↑ Marcum, D. (2014). Archives, Libraries, Museums: Coming Back Together? Information & Culture, 49(1), 74-89.
  17. ↑ "MLSA Amended" (PDF).
  18. ↑ "IMLS Gets Feedback on NCLIS Consolidation", "American Libraries", 8(8): 8.
  19. ↑ "U.S.C. Title 20 - EDUCATION". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Librarians brief new IMLS director". American Libraries. 28 (2): 6.
  21. ↑ "Texas Librarian Picked to Head IMLS". 2001. American Libraries 32 (6): 22.
  22. ↑ Oder, N (2001). "Librarian To Lead Fed Agency IMLS". Library Journal. 126 (9): 16.
  23. ↑ Sheppard, Beverly,The 21st Century Learner.Institute of Museum and Library Services, Washington, DC. 2000. ERIC Document:ED 448 788
  24. ↑ Martin, R. S. (2001, November 7, 2011). 21st Century Learners Conference, U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services: Reprinted in K.McCook (2011) Introduction to Public Librarianship 2nd ed. Neal-Schuman/ALA editions, pp.469-473.
  25. ↑ Berry, John N. 2005. "The Post-Martin Era". Library Journal 130 (11): 42–44.
  26. ↑ "President Nominates Anne-Imelda Radice to Head IMLS | American Libraries Magazine". American Libraries Magazine. Archived from the original on October 18, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  27. ↑ "Anne-Imelda Radice". www.imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  28. ↑ "Justice Stephen Breyer Swears-in Susan Hildreth as New Director of IMLS". Institute of Museum and Library Services. March 2, 2011. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  29. ↑ "Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew Confirmed as Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services". Institute of Museum and Library Services. September 23, 2015. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  30. ↑ "Trump nominates Kemper".
  31. ↑ "U.S.C. Title 20 - EDUCATION". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  32. ↑ "US President Biden names influential museum leaders to Institute of Museum and Library Services advisory board".
  33. ↑ "Board". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  34. ↑ U.S. Institute of Museums and Library Services. Strategic Plan FY 2022–2026. (March 2022).
  35. ↑ "Apply for a Grant". Institute of Museum and Library Services. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  36. ↑ "About Us". Institute of Museum and Library Services. February 19, 2015. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  37. ↑ "Application Review Process". www.imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  38. ↑ "Peer Review". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  39. ↑ "Grants to States". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  40. ↑ "Grant Programs". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  41. ↑ "Grant Programs". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  42. ↑ "American Latino Museum Internship and Fellowship Initiative". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  43. ↑ "Collections Assessment for Preservation Program". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  44. ↑ "Museum Assessment Program | Institute of Museum and Library Services". imls.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  45. ↑ "Research & Evaluation". Institute of Museum and Library Services. February 20, 2015. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  46. ↑ "Surveys & Data". Institute of Museum and Library Services. February 20, 2015. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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