Libraries and Museums: Institutes of Civic Engagement

1. Libraries and Museums: Institutes of Civic Engagement

2. What is IMLS? • We are the federal voice for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.

3. IMLS Activities • Grant Programs • Research, Evaluation and Statistics, Policy, and Publications • National Initiatives and Partnerships

4. IMLS Goals • Engaging, empowering learning experiences • Community anchor institutions • Discovery of knowledge and cultural heritage • US policies sustain access to knowledge • Excellence in public management

5. Indicators of Civic Engagement • Volunteering and service • Political action • Connecting to information and current events • Participation in a group • Social connectedness

6. Civic Engagement: Roles for Libraries and Museums • Civic educator • Raise awareness of civics, civic engagement and civic responsibility • Conversation starter • Identify challenging community issues and create a forum for developing action strategies • Community bridge • Bring diverse people and organizations with different perspectives together to build stronger communities • Visionary • Lead efforts to develop a broad community vision • Center for democracy in action • Assume role of THE place where democracy, civic engagement and public discourse happen

7. Civic Educator • Draw on experience as community educators to increase civic understanding • Maximize access to information about civic engagement • Create easy to use portals to increase civic awareness • Leverage neutral position to provide unbiased information • Connect with and support other organizations committed to civic engagement

8. Conversation Starter • Establish public discourse as a priority • Create system for constantly monitoring civic issues • Know community stakeholders and build partnerships to foster dialogue • Engage elected officials in community conversations • Build capacity to facilitate discussions on challenging issues • Be active and visible in community

9. Community Bridge • Establish building bridges as a priority • Promote role and capacity as a community bridge • Seek out disengaged populations • Create partnerships with organizations that serve disengaged populations • Provide programs that promote and teach cultural awareness

10. Visionary • Promote importance of community vision as a component of civic engagement • Link existing strategic plans to form a broader community vision • Connect with visioning organization to build capacity • Convene community conversations around visions and share those results • Work with local leaders to provide a more comprehensive vision

11. Center for Democracy in Action • Develop a strategy that defines programs contributing to community health as a priority • Work with local governments to support its democratic governance efforts • Empower citizens to be community contributors • Be willing to take on controversial issues that are important to communities • Push capacities into communities beyond traditional roles

12. Urban Library Council: LEADERSHIP BRIEF • Thank you to ULC • Check out “Library Priority: Community-Civic Engagement” • http://www.urbanlibraries.org/associations/9851/files/ULC_Leadership_Brief_II_Full_4Pages.pdf

13. Contact IMLS IMLS E-Communications • Website: www.imls.gov • Twitter: @US_IMLS • UpNext Blog: blog.imls.gov • E-mail Alerts: www.imls.gov/signup.aspx • RSS Feed: www.imls.gov/rss/news.aspx • Primary Source: Free monthly e-mail update, sent to over 12,000 subscribers.