The following is a text-only press release from the federal Institute of
Museum and Library Services (IMLS). An HTML version of this release can
be read on the agency's Web site at
http://www.imls.gov/news/2010/031910.shtm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2010

IMLS Press Contacts 
202-653-4632
Jeannine Mjoseth, [log in to unmask]
Mamie Bittner, [log in to unmask]

Semmel Will Serve as IMLS Acting Director upon Radice's Departure 

Washington, DC-Marsha Semmel, deputy director for museums and director
for strategic partnerships, will serve as acting director of the
Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Semmel assumed the
leadership role on March 14, following the departure of IMLS Director
Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Ph.D., a distinguished art and architecture
historian, museum professional, and administrator, whose term ended on
March 13. Semmel will lead the agency until a new director is nominated
and confirmed for a four-year term. The IMLS directorship alternates
between individuals from the museum and library communities. 

Since 2003, Semmel has been a member of the agency's leadership team. As
deputy director for museums, she manages IMLS's portfolio of
grant-making programs that support capacity-building and leadership
projects for all types of museums, including art, history, and science
museums, historic houses, children's museums, aquaria, arboreta,
botanical gardens, and zoos. As director for strategic partnerships,
Semmel maintains oversight of partnership activities, initiates and
implements collaborations with other federal agencies and organizations,
and manages special projects and initiatives. She led the efforts that
resulted in the Partnership for a Nation of Learners with the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, facilitated the Charting the
Landscape convening that resulted in a report on how museums and
libraries bolster K-12 education and lifelong learning in communities
and, most recently, directed the agency's work on Museums, Libraries and
21st Century Skills, a strategic capacity-building initiative to help
libraries and museums expand public learning opportunities
http://www.imls.gov/about/21stCSkills.shtm. 

From 1998 to 2002, Semmel was president and CEO of the Women of the West
Museum in Denver. Prior to that, she was president and CEO of Conner
Prairie, a living history museum in Indianapolis. From 1984 to 1996,
Semmel worked at the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), first
as a program officer, then assistant director for Humanities Projects in
Museums and Historical Organizations, and finally as director, Division
of Public Programs. She began her museum career as curator and educator
at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, was deputy director of the B'nai
B'rith National Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and program
coordinator for the Resident Associates Program at the Smithsonian
Institution. In 1979, Semmel was a Fellow in the museums program of the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). 

Semmel has a BA in English Literature and the History of Art from the
University of Michigan (Phi Beta Kappa) and an MA in Art History from
the University of Cincinnati. A past board member of the American
Association of Museums and the Colorado Digitization Project, she is
currently on the board of Art Table, a national organization for
professional women in leadership positions in the visual arts. 

Dr. Anne-Imelda Radice Bids IMLS Farewell 
On March 13, 2010, Dr. Anne-Imelda Radice completed her four-year term
as director of IMLS. The President of the United States nominated Radice
to be director in December 2005. The U.S. Senate subsequently confirmed
her nomination in March 2006. During her tenure, IMLS awarded to
America's museums and libraries grants totaling almost $1 billion. The
agency's annual budget also increased from $247,141,000 to $265,869,000.


Among her many accomplishments, Radice created and provided leadership
for Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action, a national conservation
initiative designed to raise public awareness, inspire action, and
encourage private sector support
http://www.imls.gov/collections/index.htm. The initiative included a
National Conservation Summit, four forums on conservation that took
place across the country, the distribution of three thousand
Conservation Bookshelves, and collaborative planning grants that will
advance every state's collective conservation goals. The initiative also
included the development of a resource-laden Web site
http://www.imls.gov/collections/resources/index.htm and a conservation
video that collecting institutions can use to raise awareness and funds
http://www.imls.gov/collections/about/video.htm. 

Radice ensured that Connecting to Collections had an international
component. IMLS partnered with the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) in
Austria on Connecting to the World's Collections: Making the Case for
the Conservation and Preservation of Our Cultural Heritage. The October
2009 seminar was attended by 60 cultural leaders, policymakers, and
conservation professionals from 32 countries and addressed central
issues in the care and preservation of the world's cultural heritage.
The seminar's fellows unanimously endorsed a Salzburg Declaration on the
Conservation and Preservation of Cultural Heritage, which affirmed the
importance and value of cultural heritage to cultures and societies
globally http://www.imls.gov/pdf/Salzburg_Declaration%20.pdf. 

Radice's enduring commitment to conservation and preservation was
recognized in April 2008, when she was honored with the Forbes Medal for
Distinguished Contribution to the Field of Conservation from the
American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
(AIC) and received a resolution of appreciation from the American
Association of Museums (AAM). In December 2008, President George W. Bush
awarded Radice the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second highest honor
that can be conferred on a civilian, in recognition of her exemplary
service to the nation. 

Under Radice's direction, the agency established the Office of Policy,
Planning, Research, and Communications to analyze trends, promote best
practices, and evaluate programs. The agency published a number of
ground breaking studies, including: 
* Exhibiting Public Value: Government Funding for Museums in the United
States http://www.imls.gov/pdf/Salzburg_Declaration%20.pdf
The first major review of public finance for the museum sector, this
report explores public support from federal, state, and local government
sources, focusing particular attention on levels of financial support
and types of delivery mechanisms.
* A Catalyst for Change: LSTA Grants to States Program Activities and
the Transformation of Library Services to the Public
http://www.imls.gov/pdf/CatalystForChange.pdf
This report underscores the value of the LSTA Grants to States program
in helping libraries embrace technology, establish new service models,
and engage the public. 
* Research Brief No. 1: Service Trends in U.S. Public Libraries,
1997-2007 http://www.imls.gov/pdf/Brief2010_01.pdf
This Research Brief identifies important changes that public libraries
have made to address patron needs in an increasingly Internet-centric
environment.
* Research Brief No. 2: State Library Agency Service Trends: 1999-2008
http://www.imls.gov/pdf/Brief2010_01.pdf
This research brief provides an overview of the revenues, expenditures,
and services provided by state library agencies during fiscal year 2008.

* Data Note No. 1: Libraries Use Broadband Internet Service to Serve
High Need Communities http://www.imls.gov/pdf/DataNote2009_01.pdf
This Data Note presents recent statistics on broadband Internet access
in U.S. public libraries and discusses how libraries use technology and
provide content to meet the needs of patrons in the digital age. 

In honor of the agency's tenth anniversary, Former First Lady Laura Bush
awarded the inaugural National Medals for Museum and Library Service to
ten outstanding institutions at a White House ceremony in January 2007.
Radice elevated this honor from an award to a medal and increased the
number of recipients from six to ten.

Radice also forged partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts
in The Big Read, an initiative designed to restore reading to the center
of American culture, and the National Endowment for the Humanities in
Picturing America, an initiative that brings copies of masterpieces of
American art into libraries and classrooms nationwide to help teach
American history, social studies, writing, literature, geography,
civics, and other subjects. Working with the President's Committee for
the Arts and the Humanities, IMLS participated in Save America's
Treasures and the Coming Up Taller Awards, which, respectively, support
the preservation of nationally significant intellectual and cultural
artifacts and historic sites and recognize outstanding community arts
and humanities programs. 

Prior to joining IMLS, Radice was the acting assistant chairman for
programs at NEH; the chief of staff to the secretary of the United
States Department of Education; and acting chairman of the NEA. She also
served as chief of the Creative Arts Division of the United States
Information Agency; the first director of the National Museum of Women
in the Arts; and curator of the Office of the Architect of the U.S.
Capitol. Radice has a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History from the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, an MBA from American
University, and a BA in Art History from Wheaton College, in Norton,
Massachusetts. Radice also has an MA from the Villa Schifanoia in
Florence, Italy.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services 
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of
federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.
The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that
connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the
national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to
sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and
innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about
the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.

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