Hi fellow listers. Thanks, John, for your comments. I had to respond to the last line of your message (here):

< I am convinced that there is no museum, no matter how small or how disorganized, that cannot benefit from participating in MAP.>
-- John E. Simmons, Museologica

 

I have been reading about MAP and hearing kudos about its value for several years now, though frustrated by our organization’s inability to meet the requirement of being open 90 or more days a year. I am curator of our town’s Historical Museum, where the collection is owned by the town but managed by the Historical Society. We are only open one Saturday a month during the temperate months (April through October), with researchers, visitors and school classes coming for another dozen or so days by appointment, getting us to maybe 45 days open to the public. I am certainly working in the museum enough additional days to meet the 90-day requirement, but if the museum was “open” those days, I would not get my work done, and there is a lot of it.  There are many great local history museums in the towns that surround us in Western Mass, with impressive and historic items in their collections, but many can afford to be open even less than we are. Some are open only one day a year for their “open house,” and by appointment. Most of these museums, like ours, are run by volunteer staffs, where the towns either don’t have the money to pay a collections manager, or don’t see the value, or both.

 

I wish there was a program that was really geared to help small history museums (run by town historical societies or commissions) work to the point where they COULD be eligible to participate in MAP or one of the other grant programs (like NEH’s PAG, with a 120-day min. requirement) to help us move to the next level. As has been stated here, sometimes an organization or a town just needs the push of recommendations from a credentialed group like IMLS or AAM to turn the tide of community apathy and/or hopelessness. We have big dreams, and are trying many angles to get there, but it is very slow and lack of momentum is a problem.

 

Any grant suggestions/ideas for museums that are both small AND disorganized, but ineligible for MAP?

 

Best,

--Kathie Gow

 

Oral History Producer

http://www.wordspicturesstories.com

 

Curator, Hatfield Historical Museum

http://hatfieldhistory.weebly.com

 

 

 

I have been involved with MAP for a very long time, both as a staff member at two different museums undergoing the MAP process, and as a MAP reviewer. 

MAP is a terrific program that provides invaluable guidance for improving your museum, helps you establish clear priorities for moving forward, and the MAP report will strengthen your applications for grant funding. 

Going through the MAP process and receiving the report sends a clear message to your board concerning the value of the museum and what is needed to make it better.  I am convinced that there is no museum, no matter how small or how disorganized, that cannot benefit from participating in MAP.

John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
[log in to unmask]
303-681-5708
www.museologica.com
and
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
and
Lecturer in Art
Juniata College
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania

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