the role of libraries and museums in comprehensive community development

The Role of Libraries and Museums in Comprehensive Community Development

June 19, 2014

Susan H. Hildreth Director of the Institute of Museum and Library ServicesOn January 19, 2011, President Obama appointed Susan H. Hildreth to be director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Her nomination to her new post was confirmed by the US Senate by unanimous consent on December 22, 2010. Hildreth had been the city librarian in Seattle for the previous two years.Before moving to Seattle, Hildreth served for five years as California’s state librarian, a position to which she was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Previously, Hildreth was at the San Francisco Public Library, where she served as deputy director and then city librarian. Her background also includes five years as deputy library director at the Sacramento Public Library, several years as Placer County's head librarian, and four years as library director for the Benicia Public Library, all in California. She began her career as a branch librarian at the Edison Township Library in New Jersey.

Hildreth was active in the American Library Association, serving as president of the Public Library Association in 2006. She has a master's degree in library science from State University of New York at Albany, a master's degree in business administration from Rutgers University, and a bachelor of arts, cum laude, from Syracuse University.

Hildreth is serving a four-year term as the Director of the Institute. The directorship of the Institute alternates between individuals from the museum and library communities.

Speakers

CHRISTOPHER WALKER, Director of Research and Assessment , Local Initiatives Support CorporationChris Walker is Director of Research and Assessment for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the nation’s foremost community development intermediary. He is responsible for assembling, conducting, sponsoring, and disseminating high-quality research on community development’s contributions to the well-being of individuals, families and communities. He also supports the research activities of the 30 LISC local programs throughout the United States.

His current work includes research into LISC’s Building Sustainable Communities program, a comprehensive place-based initiative to support community change in more than 100 neighborhoods in cities where LISC works, analysis of financial capability outcomes for clients of LISC’s Financial Opportunity Centers, and research into the role of arts and culture in community revitalization. Prior to joining LISC in late 2005, Mr. Walker directed a community and economic development research program at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, including national studies of federal- and foundation-funded affordable housing, community lending, cultural participation, and other community and economic development issues.

SpeakersChris Siefert, Deputy Director, Children’s Museum PittsburghIn 2007 Chris Siefert was appointed to the Children’s Museum Pittsburgh as Deputy Director. In this role, Siefert implemented the Charm Bracelet Project, oversaw the development of a $6.1 million city park revitalization, manages numerous, capital projects and oversees five museum departments. Prior to this appointment, Siefert taught sculpture at Louisiana State University (1996-1998); served as Director of Exhibits for Children’s Museum Pittsburgh (1998-2000); and served as project manager for the capital expansion of the Children’s Museum Pittsburgh which opened in November 2004. In 2013, Siefert was awarded a fellowship from the Noyce Leadership Institute.

Siefert received his MFA from Carnegie Mellon University [where he was a Jacob K. Javits Fellow] and a BS in landscape architecture from Cornell University. He studied planning at the Denmark International Studies program and he attended the Museum Management Institute sponsored by the Getty Leadership Institute in 2000. Prior to his master’s degree, Siefert worked with interdisciplinary design teams at Cesar Pelli and Associates and Balmori Associates in New Haven, Connecticut on several notable projects. Across his professional and artistic career, Siefert received an AIA Public Space Award, the Times Project Organization Public Artwork Grant, and grants from the Louisiana Division of The Arts amongst other grants, awards, and commissions.

As an extension of his work, Siefert actively participates in conferences and symposia addressing issues of non-profit management and the roles for institutions in their community. Siefert is currently Vice President of the Northside Cultural Collaborative, a member of the Allegheny Commons Steering Committee, and is President of the Pittsburgh Dynamo youth soccer club.

Matthew K. Poland, Chief Executive Officer, Hartford Public LibraryMatt Poland joined Hartford Public Library in June 2008 as Deputy Administrator and was named Interim Director in December 2008. Poland was appointed the Library’s ninth leader since 1893 and its first chief executive officer in October 2009.

Prior to joining the Library, Poland was senior vice president and general manager for Work/Life Innovations, an award-winning employee assistance and work/life programming organization. Prior to joining Work/Life Innovations, he was senior vice president for human resources at Community Newspaper Company and Veritude, both Fidelity Investments Companies in Boston. Before Boston, Matt worked at The Hartford Courant where he held the positions of vice president for human resources and community affairs, vice president for operations, production director, and director of employee relations. He began his career in retail banking and human resources in the financial services sector in Hartford.

Poland received his bachelor’s degree with honors in philosophy and literature from St. John’s College Seminary (Boston, MA). He also has completed executive leadership and management programs at Harvard University, Babson College, University of Southern California, and the Times Mirror Executive Leadership Institute.

Poland currently is a member and former chairman of the Hartford Board of Education and is a member of the Community Steering Committee of Opportunities Hartford. He serves on the executive committee of the board of the Urban Libraries Council, is a board member for Hartford Performs, a corporator for Hartford Hospital and the iQuilt Partnership, and serves on the leadership committee and policy cabinet of MoveUP!. Poland is also a member of the American Library Association, the Connecticut Library Association, Leadership Greater Hartford, Society for Human Resources Management, and the Human Resources Association of Central Connecticut. He is a LeadBoston Fellow and a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. Hartford Magazine named him one of Hartford’s Most Influential People in 2013.

Webinar on Museum / Library Community Engagement June 19, 20142

Institute of Museum and Library Services

IMLS Strategic Goals

1. IMLS places the learner at the center and supports engaging experiences in libraries and museums that prepare people to be full participants in their local communities and our global society.

2. IMLS promotes museums and libraries as strong community anchors that enhance civic engagement, cultural opportunities, and economic vitality.

3. IMLS supports exemplary stewardship of museum and library collections and promotes the use of technology to facilitate discovery of knowledge and cultural heritage.

4. IMLS advises the President and Congress on plans, policies, and activities to sustain and increase public access to information and ideas.

5. IMLS achieves excellence in public management and performs as a model organization through strategic alignment of IMLS resources and prioritization of programmatic activities, maximizing value for the American public.

Leveraging Strengths/Seeing Value in Different Community Institutions

Community Wellbeing

Community Development

Practice

Library and Museum Practice

• broader perspective on community need• better understanding of respective roles

Recent investments

• Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience - Seattle, WA

The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience will produce a newly designed tour program to empower the Asian Pacific American community to share their stories, help stimulate the local economy, and promote the historic and cultural vibrancy of the district. The Chinatown International District, on the National Register of Historic Places, is Seattle’s lowest-income neighborhood, struggling with multiple issues that threaten its preservation. The program will emphasize community storytelling and audience engagement.

• City of Omaha – Omaha, NE

The Omaha Public Library and the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research will produce a toolkit of useful resources and a replicable model to guide public libraries toward leadership roles in civic engagement efforts in their local communities. The project will also help libraries to measure and communicate the value they add to the community. Deliverables will include principles, practices, and tools to help libraries engage with citizens and other organizations to produce a map of local needs and available assets, a portal of resources and guidelines to help position libraries as key community anchor organizations, and methods and metrics to help public libraries measure, assess, and communicate the success and impact of their services and programs.

Museums, Libraries, and Comprehensive Initiatives: Emerging Experience

A Research Project Supported byThe Institute for Museum and Library Services

Chris WalkerLISC Director of Research & AssessmentJune 19, 2014

LISC Direct Support for Museums and Libraries

• Los Angeles• Milwaukee• Indianapolis• Chicago• St. Paul• Richmond

Points of Entry: Physical Revitalization

Community planning and development

Construction and renovation of own facilities

Creative placemaking

Museum & Library Benefits to Communities

Social Political EconomicCulturalPhysical and

Aesthetic

Community as Source of

Pride, Identity, and Enrichment

CommunityPerceived

as Safe andVibrant

IncreasedCultural

Participation

Participation inLifelong Learning

And Access toTechnology

Increased SocialConnections

AmongDiverse Groups

Increased Participation

In CommunityDecisionmaking

Increased SupportFor Well-Being

Of all CommunityMembers

Increased Participation

In EntrepreneurialOpportunities

Increased Patronage of

Local Businesses

DevelopmentAnd Preservation

Of Spaces withAesthetic Value

More Well-Functioning

Public Spaces andReduced Vacancy

Visible SignsOf CommunityIdentity Pride,

And Attachment

ImprovedEducational &

Workforce Outcomes

Preserved and Increased

Diversity of Residents

Stronger Community

Institutions andGovernance

StrengthenedSocial Policy

And Programs

Increased Small Business

Formation

Development andStrengtheningOf Economic

Clusters

Increased Public SafetyBetter Public HealthHigher Incomes and

EmploymentIncreased Property Values

Increased Tax Revenues

Source: Adapted from How-Art-Works, 2012, by LISC Research and Assessment

EducationalPhysical and

Aesthetic

Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art and StorytellingNew York, NY

Children’s Museum of IndianapolisIndianapolis, IN

Points of Entry: Community-Building

Organizing and volunteer mobilization

Community cultural development

Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance Chicago, IL

Queens Museum Queens, NY

Points of Entry: Collective Impact

Youth Development

Workforce Development

Health Promotion

Colleton Museum and Farmers’ MarketWalterboro, SC

Detroit Public LibraryDetroit, MI

Terms of Museum and Library Engagement

Level of Institutional Effort

Connection to Community Efforts

Institutional Commitment

Locus of Decisionmaking

Engagement is Add-On Engagement is Integral

Institution is Sole Decisionmaker Decisions are Collective and Consensual

Institution is Unaware Institution Supports Multiple Efforts

Small Scale High Priority to Senior Management

Series of One-Off Efforts Sustained Partnerships Across Multiple Efforts

Length of Involvement

Museums, Libraries, and Comprehensive Initiatives: Emerging Experience

Report AvailabilitySummer, 2014LISC Institute for Comprehensive Community Development

Contact:Chris Walker, Director of Research and Assessment, LISCcwalker@lisc.org

The mission of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is to provide innovative

museum experiences that inspire joy, creativity and curiosity.

In-House Partners

• Pittsburgh Public Schools: Pre-K Head Start Programs

• Reading is Fundamental

• Saturday Light Brigade

• Neighborhood Allies

• University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out of School Environments [UPCLOSE]

• Youth ALIVE

Neighborhood Involvement

ALLEGHENY PUBLIC SQUARE

FEBRUARY 2007 – FOUR DESIGN TEAMS…

The Charm Bracelet Project• A network of cultural, educational, and recreational organizations transforming traditional understandings of how institutions make community impact.

• Works collectively to foster a vibrant, attractive and accessible Northside that is unified by visible, lasting connections between organizations and amenities.

• RESOURCE and NETWORK for each other and for other organizations

• CHALLENGE to take on new and different possibilities and partnerships outside of the typical

• VISION for ‘street level activity’ through collaborative programs in “everyday space”

Buhl Community Park – 2012

Children’s Museum – 2004 expansion

Library Building: 2015

New Hazlett Theater - 2006

Community Day in the Park July 21, 2007

Andrea Cochran Landscape

Architecture

Hood Design

La Dallman Architecture

Garofalo Architecture with

PSLA

Klavon Design Associates

WANTED

www.pittsburghkids.org

Contact: Chris Siefertcsiefert@pittsburghkids.org

Contact Matt Poland:Hartford Public LibraryTel: (860) 695-6303mpoland@hplct.org

The LISC Institute for Comprehensive Community Development is designed to share knowledge and resources with LISC staff, local agencies in the LISC network and others who are working in the field of comprehensive community development.

The Institute website, trainings, webinars and peer-to-peer support are tools that help practitioners and their partners successfully implement comprehensive community initiatives.