December 2003
WASHINGTON, DC - The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the primary federal funding agency for the nation's museums and libraries, today gave $15,464,815 to 169 outstanding museums across the country to use collections, resources, and technology for public outreach. Today's recipients of the Institute's highly competitive national Learning Opportunities grant competition (933 museums, from art galleries to zoos, requested $82,773,147) will match the awards with an additional $25,259,949.

Recipients include:
Atwater Kent Museum - Philadelphia, PA - $88,400
2003 Learning Opportunities Grants
Purpose: Expanding Educational Services. This grant will strengthen and support Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia's (AKMP) educational services for Philadelphia's 300,000 school children. Significant changes at the Museum and within the city's educational system support expansion of such programming to the full range of public, private, charter, parochial, and home schooling sites. A nationally known education specialist, along with a newly-hired director of educational partnerships and youth programs, will develop new school programs that blend with city and state curriculum standards. They will use the AKMP's collection of historical objects spanning 300 years of the city's history and the museum's technology assets to pilot school programs for grades 1-3, 4-8, and 9-12. AKMP will offer five educational lessons on site, off site and online, thus employing technology to expand educational services during the school year and beyond.

"Museums use the power of real things to connect us to history, science, and the creative process," said Robert Martin, Director of the Institute. "These grants will help museums do just that by building public access, expanding educational services, and reaching out to families and children. The Learning Opportunity grants we make today furthers IMLS' mission to help museums create and sustain our nation of lifelong learners."

Learning Opportunities grants encourage museums to use their collections, expertise, and technology to create public value and strengthen learning in schools, at home, and in partnership with other community organizations. Designed to advance the museum's mission and strategic goals, activities funded today range from interactive virtual gallery tours of museums around the world, to classroom teachers adopting raptors to inspire students about veterinary and animal husbandry careers, to traveling exhibits that reach underserved families and schools.

Grants are awarded to all types of museums, from anthropological to zoological, fine art and folk art, urban and rural, large and small. Museums as diverse as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, are among today's recipients.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent Federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. To learn more about the Institute, please log onto: http://www.imls.gov.

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