Is there an official definition of "open to the public"? We have difference of
opinion with one of our public funders over this issue. My small museum is
officially "open by appointment" Tuesday through Friday, 9 to 4. In practice,
this means we serve many school groups and senior groups, a few individuals
who call ahead, and people participating in scheduled workshops and programs.
When people do drop by without calling, we always admit them if we can, and we
usually can - we just don't guarantee it. We are in a part of town away from
other destinations that ensures us very few casual drop-in visitors.
Our funder insists that without times when we are open for unscheduled visits,
we are not "open to the public".
While we absolutely agree that it would be optimal to offer such hours,
especially on weekends, and are working towards increasing the staff to make
that possible, we have extremely limited resources and feel that we can serve
the public most effectively by concentrating them on times when we KNOW we
have people to serve, by offering group tours, invitation events, and
workshops and classes, and doing outreach in the neighborhood.
Do we have a leg to stand on here? Obviously the funder can set the terms it
sees as appropriate for organizations it supports, we just wonder if it's
worth trying to convince them (the irony is that without this funding we will
be delayed in reaching the point they want us to be at). So, are there
professional standards and practices that would answer the question: are we
"open to the public" or not?
Carol Ely
Portland Museum
Louisville, Kentucky
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