Six Institutions to Receive Nation’s Highest Honor for Museum and Library Service

Out of 30 finalists, the Institute of Museum and Library Services recently announced six 2022 National Medal for Museum and Library Service recipients. 

This year’s recipients for library service are New Orleans’s Amistad Research Center, Missouri’s St. Louis County Library, and Delaware’s Wilmington Institute Free Library. 

North Carolina’s Asheville Art Museum, Seattle, Washington’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, and the Oakland Museum of California received museum service honors. 

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Established in 1994, this award is the nation’s most prestigious honor for libraries and museums that make impactful contributions to their respective communities. 

According to a press release by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, honor recipients must demonstrate “dynamic programming and services that exceed expected levels of service.” 

Community programming and service efforts outlined on the  Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) website include “fostering a lifelong passion for learning for all people,” providing educational resources for people “of all abilities and needs,” strengthening “digital inclusion and access to digital and informational resources,” and more. 

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Medalist nominees can range from aquariums to museums of art and archives to public or digital libraries in the library category. However, the list goes on in both services, making the honor highly competitive. 

Non-profit agencies are also eligible for nomination under certain circumstances, such as an organization responsible for managing a museum’s operations. 

Anyone can nominate deserving organizations for the honor. Nominations include employees, board members, community members, and elected officials. Although previous winners are eligible for more than one award, ten years must pass before a winner’s next nomination. 

Regarding this year’s award winners, IMLS Director Crosby Kemper said, “These great institutions are not only centers of excellence but also of passion for serving their communities in their unique individual ways.” 

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He added, “We look forward to celebrating them in Washington, DC, with our first in-person ceremony in three years. They all exemplify the cultural and community engagement we have missed during the pandemic.”

All six 2022 recipients will be presented with their awards at an in-person event in Washington, D.C., this July.