2011 National Medal for Museum and Library Service video transcript
Voiceover: The Institute of Museum and Library Services honors ten of the nationís museums
and libraries for their extraordinary contributions to the communities they serve.
IMLS is the nationís primary source of federal support for museums and libraries.
We congratulate the winners of the 2011 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
Graphic: Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn, NY
Voiceover: Located in the heart of a dynamic and diverse community, the Brooklyn Museum
greets some 400,000 visitors each year who explore the connections between the collections
and their lives, traditions, and cultures.
Through exhibitions such as American Identities, a multicultural view of American origins,
and fun, interactive programs like First Saturdays, which invites visitors to enjoy music and
dance surrounded by great art, and Click!
A Crowd-Curated Exhibit, the Brooklyn Museum is a community engagement innovator.
Graphic: EdVenture Childrenís Museum Columbia, SC
Voiceover: Children learn a lot of things about their world when at playóa concept
thatís employed at EdVenture Childrenís Museum in every exhibit and program and one
that extends to parents, caregivers, and museum partners.
From learning anatomy by scrambling through EDDIE, a 40-foot high molded plastic child;
to practicing a possible future career on a full-size fire engine or John Deere tractor;
to learning practical money management using EDDIE bucks, children run, climb, slide, laugh,
and play all the while learning important skills they can use now and when they grow
up.
Graphic: Alachua County Library District Gainesville, FL
Voiceover: For the staff and community partners of Alachua County Library in Gainesville,
Florida, the concept of ìcommunity librarianshipî is all about thinking outside the book and
pooling resources to provide much-needed community services.
Library staff parlay their E-Government expertise to assist visitors with job skill development,
testing, resume writing, and basic computer skills, while library partners offer mobile
health clinics and assistance with legal mattersóoffering a valuable one-stop service.
Graphic: Columbus Metropolitan Library Columbus, OH
Voiceover: When customers canít get to the Columbus Metropolitan Library, staff from
its Ready to Read Corps take the library to them, carrying out the libraryís mission
to meet customers wherever they are and providing early literacy training for parents.
From a base of solid community support, the library helps high school students improve
reading, writing, and math scores through its Homework Help Centers and takes a proactive
role in the local economy through its Job Help Centersóinitiatives that are having
positive impacts on the lives of Columbus, Ohio, residents.
Graphic: Erie Art Museum Erie, PA
Voiceover: Erie Art Museum embraces the artsóall of themóand through its innovative programs
invites its community to do the same.
Street art programs LeapFrog and GoFish are re-energizing and beautifying downtown streets
and kindling new interest in public art forms; for the large refugee population, Old Songs:
New Opportunities provides both job opportunities and a way to share important traditions and
culture; and Kids as Curators has middle-school children and their teachers seeing the museum
like theyíve never seen it before.
Graphic: Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Collegeville, MN
Voiceover: Books and manuscriptsómany of them rare or ancientómeet high tech in complete
harmony at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library where Benedictine monks work to preserve and
catalog fragile collections using digital photography.
Father Columba Stewart: The only way the past has come down to us is in the form of these
writings.
Voiceover: Through its website, the library offers digital copies of thousands of medieval,
renaissance, and early-modern manuscripts from Europe, Africa, India, and most recently,
the Middle East, working in partnership worldwide with local libraries and archives to preserve
records from wars, political turmoil, and even fraud in some of the most-unsettled spots
on the planet.
Graphic: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Richmond, VA
Voiceover: Visitors to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden love the peaceful refreshing atmosphere.
Each visitor has the opportunity to learn more about the natural world and their role
in helping to conserve precious resources.
Beautiful and intriguing plantingsómuch loved by amateur and professional photographersóshare
the 60-acre space with an education and library complex, greenhouses, a glass-domed conservatory,
and a vegetable garden that annually supplies some 9,000 tons of fresh, nutritious food
to community food banks, making these gardens a place that feeds both body and soul.
Graphic: San JosÈ Public Library San Jose, CA
Voiceover: With more than 15 million items checked out annually, San Jose Public Library
has earned its title as one of the busiest libraries in the country and serves customers
from richly diverse backgrounds in more than 19 branches.
Library patrons are the focus of the design of its facilities, which welcome visitors
to its programs like Stay and Play, which engages preschool and elementary children
and their caregivers to learn through play; and in its commitment to lifelong learning
with programs in early literacy, online homework help, and hands-on science and math activities
designed especially for use in libraries.
Graphic: Weippe Public Library & Discovery Center
Weippe, ID
Voiceover: In this remote, mountainous region, the library is a valued community resource,
which, through imaginative partnerships, brought high-speed Internet service to the tiny town
of Wieppe and will soon expand the current library-centered cell phone service to the
entire community.
Offering employment assistance to residents; engaging children from preschool to teen years
in projects ranging from high-tech computer games to team challenges using LEGOs bricks;
or helping a resident learn basic computer skillsóitís all in a dayís work for the
four staff members who though they work part-time, manage to make a big impact on their community.
Graphic: Madison Childrenís Museum Madison, WI
Voiceover: Madison Childrenís Museum believes in local talent.
Its historic building was redesigned by a local architect using local products, and
some 15,000 local volunteers donated time, money, and even some of the objects used in
exhibits.
Young boy: Cool!
Voiceover: In an overscheduled world, children, parents, grandparents, and caregivers are
encouraged to take part in open-ended play, a freewheeling experience that creates intergenerational
conversations, provides fertile ground for learning, and sparks the imagination in sometimes
unpredictable but always delightful ways.
Voiceover: The Institute of Museum and Library Services is proud to honor the outstanding
winners of the 2011 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
This presentation was created for the Institute of Museum and Library Services by HISTORY.