National Medal for Museum and Library Service Nominations

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will begin accepting nominations June 30 for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the highest honor awarded to museums and libraries. Members of the public, board members, volunteers, or government officials are welcome to nominate an institution.

The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is the nation’s highest honor for institutions that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. Since 1994, IMLS has presented the award to outstanding libraries and museums of all types and sizes that deeply impact their communities.

Apply Now: Nomination Form (September 1, 2023 deadline)

Program Overview:
The National Medals program recognizes outstanding libraries and museums of all types and sizes that deeply impact their communities by:

• fostering a lifelong passion for learning for all people, nourishing curiosity and imagination from early childhood through adulthood, for people of all abilities and needs;
• providing access to information by building a literate, well-informed community and advancing digital capacity, focusing on digital inclusion and access to digital and informational resources, including e-books and materials to help address workforce development and public health;
• enriching the lives of community members by being trusted community spaces for convening, connection, and conversation; enlightenment and shared thoughts and opinions; and preserving natural and cultural heritage and community memory; and
• responding to the unprecedented challenges of recent years to revitalize and renew organizational practice.

Who is eligible for a National Medal?

For museums:

• Aquariums, Arboretums/Botanical Gardens, Art Museums, Children’s/Youth Museums, General Museums, Historic Houses/Sites, History Museums, Natural History/Anthropology Museums, Nature Centers, Planetariums, Science/Technology Museums, Specialized Museums, and Zoos may be nominated for the National Medal for Museum Service if they are either a unit of State or local government or a private nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code;
• are located in one of the 50 States of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau; and
• qualify as a museum that, using a professional staff, is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes; owns or uses tangible objects, either animate or inanimate; cares for these objects; and exhibits these objects to the general public on a regular basis through facilities that it owns or operates.

A public or private nonprofit agency that is responsible for the operation of a museum may be nominated if it manages a museum.

For libraries:

• Academic and Research Libraries/Archives, Digital Libraries, Library Associations, Library Consortia, Public Libraries, Research Libraries/Archives that make information available to the public and that are not an integral part of an institution of higher learning, Public School Libraries, Tribal Libraries, and Private or Special Libraries that are considered libraries as determined by the State in which they are located, may be nominated for the National Medal for Library Service. They should also be either a unit of State or local government or be a private nonprofit organization that has tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Code; and
• located in one of the 50 States of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau.

Previous library or museum medal recipients may be nominated again after ten years.

Libraries or museums that employ or are affiliated with a current member of the National Museum and Library Services Board (NMLSB) are not eligible for a National Medal, by resolution of the NMLSB.

Who may nominate a library or museum for the National Medal?
Anyone, including the organization’s employees, board members, members of its community, and elected officials, may nominate a museum or library for this honor.

What steps should nominators take?
If someone outside the organization wants to make a nomination, they should notify the museum or library directly and ask them to complete and submit the Nomination Form.

• If an organization self-nominates, it needs to submit the Nomination Form.
• Congressional staff should contact IMLS for instructions on nominating organizations in their districts.

All nomination materials must be submitted by 11:59 pm ET on Friday, September 1, 2023.

Who can I contact if I have questions about the National Medal?
For questions about the nomination process, please contact:

Libraries: Teri DeVoe tdevoe@imls.gov
Museums: Mark Feitl mfeitl@imls.gov
For all other questions: nationalmedals@imls.gov

For more information, visit: https://www.imls.gov/grants/available/national-medal-museum-and-library-service