I'm looking for information on the amount of funding provided by local
municipalities for museum operations.

We are an association of four museums and a city library.  The museums are
private/non-profit, and share some staff with the library and its branches.
 Currently, the city funds approx. 60% of the library's annual operating
budget and 30-35% of the museums' budget (which is almost half that of the
library).

The museums are looking for ways to increase the percentage of municipal
support and encourage our local government to "up" their contribution, and
hope that statistics from comparable cities will show a strong funding
commitment on their part.  We also pay for custodial help, trash removal,
pension, utilities, and so forth, and wonder if any museums receive these
services at low or no cost from the city.

I'd appreciate any information you can provide, including leads to surveys
or organizations that maintain this kind of information.  Some additional
info on our city/site follows at the end of this message.

Thanks,

Melanie Solomon
Curator of History
The Springfield Library & Museums Assoc.
Springfield, Massachusetts
[log in to unmask]


General Info:
Springfield population approx. 175,000
Surrounding metropolitan area population of about 700,000
Mid-sized fine arts museums, mid-sized science museum,
small history museum
Combined museums operating budget of about $4,000,000

Our computer firewall eats e-mail, so if you try to contact me directly and
I don't respond, it means your message never arrived at my end!