The Government Encourages Collaboration

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (ILMS)

-The Institute of Museum and Library Services was created in 1996 by the Museum and Library Services Act, which essentially merged the Fedreral programs for supporting the nations museums and libraries, transferring the library programs out of the Department of Education and uniting them with what has been the Instituite of Museum Services.
-The simple recognition that museums and libraries are both social agencies for public education is what motivated the merger.
-IMLS is an independent Federal agency that fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning.
-IMLS helps museums and libraries improve their services by holding conferences and training sessions, honoring individuals who excel in the community, awarding grants, making publications available on various topics, provide networking, and much more.
-The IMLS website has a great deal of information that is of enormous benefit to all museums, libraries, and professionals in both fields.
-Their is information on the history of IMLS, the latest news of what's going on in the agency, information on applying for grants or awards, publications are available to read such as Primary Source Newsletter, there are notices of when and where conferences are taking place, job opportunities are listed, there are links to useful museum and library websites, and many more additional resources can be found.

*One of the greatest aspects of IMLS is that it encourages collaboration among and between museums and libraries, as well as, between these institutions and other community groups.
-IMLS offers several grants to museum and library collaborations each year because they believe that these partnerships enhance the educational benefits to the community.
-IMLS has conducted numerous studies on museum and library partnerships and their research has shown that these collaborations can: increase access to information in their communities, enhance education, attract new audiences, and expand the reach of their programs.

-Here are some examples of museum and library partenerships that have recieved grants from the IMLS to help fund their collaboration projects.

Connecting Books & Art
-Warren-Trumbull County, Ohio: The public library and local art museum jointly developed a series of family orientated programs.

Museum Branch
-Tampa-Hillsborough County, Florida: The public library has a branch that is located within the Museum of Science and Industry in which the collection is made up of materials relating to science and math.

Science on the Road
-Norwich, Vermont: The Montshire Museum of Science is working with the Howe Library to create eight traveling interacting tabletop science exhinits.