FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IMLS Press Contacts
202-653-4630
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov

Washington, DC—The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of federal support for the nation’s museums and libraries, announced the 34 institutions that are receiving National Leadership Grants (NLG) totaling $17,311,078. The projects funded by these grants will have national impact and generate results that can be widely replicated, extending the benefit of this federal support. In addition to the grants announced today, NLG collaborative planning grants totaling $763,715 were announced in July.

"National Leadership grantees help us better understand and advance best practice in museums, libraries, and archives," said IMLS Acting Director Marsha L. Semmel. "We look forward to much exciting work, including projects that will study the effects of climate change on plants; bring new health information to visitors through partnerships with the local research community; and develop new models for serving the Baby Boom generation."

Funded project grants fell into the following categories:

• Advancing Digital Resources: Support the creation, use, presentation, and preservation of significant digital resources, as well as the development of tools to enhance access, use, and management of digital assets.
• Research: Support projects that have the potential to improve museum, archival, and library practice, resource use, programs, and services. Both basic and applied research projects are encouraged.
• Demonstration: Support projects that produce a replicable model or practice that is usable by other institutions for improving services and performance.
• Library-Museum Collaboration Grants: Support collaborative projects that address the educational, economic, cultural, and social needs of a community.

The 2010 NLG project grants include:

Missouri Botanical Garden
St. Louis, MO
$318,215

The global extinction crisis requires a rapid response from botanical gardens and arboreta that serve the broader conservation community in the United States. This project is designed to advance conservation efforts at botanical gardens and arboreta working to serve the conservation community and help them assume a leading role in preventing the extinction of plants in a rapidly changing climate. The project will develop and test a generalizable, easily replicable approach that integrates bioclimatic modeling and innovative research experiments to elucidate key questions concerning the impacts of climate change on plant diversity and to develop scientifically based protocols to avert the loss of species.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN
$421,737

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center and partner University Community Health Services, Inc. will test a patient’s ability to understand health information and his or her best way to learn, whether through seeing, reading, listening, or doing. They will then build an Internet-based tool that will use the results to automatically create information to give to patients about their illness that is more understandable and more likely to be followed. Content for this tool will be developed for two common conditions—high blood pressure and diabetes—and the tool will be tested and improved in two settings: a large university hospital emergency department and a community health clinic.

Athens-Clarke County Library
Athens, GA
$343,100

The Athens-Clarke County Library will partner with the Lyndon House Arts Center in an innovative collaboration to develop new services and programs for the aging baby boomer population, born between 1946 and 1964. The partnership will include local baby boomers as advisers who will help guide the project to meet the needs of this target audience. The goals and objectives are to provide lifelong learning opportunities for and by older, active adults and expanding museum and library services beyond existing walls. The partners will generate new users through creative use of new technology, employing live webcasts and a video archive of these programs. The project will develop a best practices model to engage boomers in the work and mission of libraries and museums in their communities.

Click here to learn more about the 2010 NLG awardees.

The next deadline for the National Leadership Grants program is February 1, 2011.
 

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.