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I think your last paragraph is dead-on.  It goes to the heart of the quasireligious calling that draws us to the field!  

One thing I would love to see are free days - some of the bigger places are so wildly expensive that even in good times they are out of reach of much of the public.  Yes, I clearly recognize that we are all dependent upon the gate, but let's get real.  People who value informal institutions would flock to us if there was a regular free day, especially if they are unemployed.  

I would like to see us collectively think about ways to sell our value to our communities and our politicians.  If education is going to be a major theme in this administration and in the recovery act, then why aren't we flooding our politician's boxes with well thought out White Papers stating our direct ties into those efforts?  Again, it would need to be folded into straight economic benefits.  

I have a lot of friends who were cut from non-science museums and they are receiving no assistance.  In fact, several institutions are relying even more heavily on senior volunteers.

Beryl

-----Original Message-----
>From: Wendy Pollock <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Feb 13, 2009 1:12 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: How is your museum responding to community needs?
>
>ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
>Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
>*****************************************************************************
>
>Thanks, Beryl, for taking the time to respond -- and, yes, this is what I had in mind. And even more specifically, are any museums helping to address needs of people who've been laid off, for example, e.g., by offering job retraining or places to use the Internet? Is anyone putting in a community garden? or hosting a farmers market? or helping people learn money-saving skills, say, for working on their house or car? What about clinics for repairing broken things? What about opportunities to do parttime work? Even before the severe downturn, this was a theme of groups like Civic Engagement, who foresaw that older adults would both be capable of making ongoing, meaningful contributions, but would also likely need at least some income.
>
>And what about addressing the increased need for social support, during a time of trauma? After September 11th, we heard from counselors who valued museums as environments that helped people be together in positive settings. Botanical gardens' attendance went up, I believe. Is anyone offering free admission or programs or opening up free zones where they didn't have them before?
>
>It's very hard to think about community needs when our own institutions -- and everyone personally, in varying degrees -- is being affected by this situation. But museums have always represented a collective spirit and have talked about community. Helping to make the community promising for new economic development is certainly and aspect of this. What about at the more immediate, small-scale level? I wonder if there are any stories out there. 
>
>Wendy
>
>
>Wendy Pollock
>Association of Science-Technology Centers
>1025 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 500
>Washington, DC 20005
>USA
>202/783-7200 x114
>
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