Advocacy

In This Section

Issue: IMLS Office of Museum Services Funding

Issue

IMLS is the primary federal agency responsible for helping museums connect people to information and ideas. Its Office of Museum Services (OMS) awards grants to museums to support educating students, preserving and digitizing collections, and engaging communities. Grants are awarded in every state, but current funding has allowed the agency to fund only a small fraction of the highly-rated grant applications it receives. Congress has regularly reauthorized IMLS with broad bipartisan support, most recently in 2018 with a funding authorization of $38.6 million for OMS. OMS has set a strong record of congressional support during the appropriations submission process in each of the last seven years, with 178 Representatives and 41 Senators signing the FY 2020 appropriations letters on its behalf. IMLS received $242 million in FY 2019 appropriations, of which $34.7 million went to the Office of Museum Services.

  • We support funding of $42.7 million in FY 2020 for OMS, the amount approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 18, 2019 (H.R. 2740).

Download the PDF of the full IMLS Office of Museum Services Funding Issue Brief

Supporting Letters and Testimony

 

AAM Member-Only Content

AAM Members get exclusive access to premium digital content including:

  • Featured articles from Museum Magazine
  • Access to more than 1,500 resource listings from the Resource Center
  • Tools, reports, and templates for equipping your work in museums
Log In

We're Sorry

Your current membership level does not allow you to access this content.

Upgrade Your Membership

Subscribe to Field Notes!

Packed with stories and insights for museum people, Field Notes is delivered to your inbox every Monday. Once you've completed the form below, confirm your subscription in the email sent to you.

If you are a current AAM member, please sign-up using the email address associated with your account.

Are you a museum professional?

Are you a current AAM member?

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription, and please add communications@aam-us.org to your safe sender list.