The national campaign, Making the Learning Connection, is intended to help communities assess their needs and contribute to a shared vision for 21st century learning. It includes an eight-city workshop tour, a national contest, new online tools and resources, and a series of interactive webinars.

Workshops:

December 8: Miami, Florida

November 4: San Francisco, California

August 20: Columbia, South Carolina

June 21: Baltimore, Maryland

January 19, 2011 Press Release: Free Webinar: Libraries and 21st Century Skills

Link to Archived Video (Length: 1:03:26; MP4, 153 MB)
Click above link to watch online; right-click and choose "Save Target As" to save file to your computer. Viewers will need QuickTime to see the video. Get Plug-Ins.

Read Transcript (PDF, 73 KB)

Speakers included:

• Mary Chute, IMLS Deputy Director for Libraries
• Mary Boone, North Carolina State Librarian
• Jeffrey Patchen, President and CEO of the Indianapolis Children’s Museum
• Luis Herrera, San Francisco City Librarian

Webinar participants received:

• Guidance for how to use the IMLS Museums, Libraries and 21st Century Skills Report and Self-Assessment Tool
• Best practices and approaches to enhancing 21st century skills of audiences and stakeholders
• Details for specific grant opportunities

The Institute's Museums, Libraries, and 21st Century Skills initiative underscores the critical role our nation’s museums and libraries play in helping citizens build such 21st century skills as information, communications and technology literacy, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, civic literacy, and global awareness.

Museums and Libraries Strengthen 21st Century Skills

In the summer of 2009, the Institute released Museums and Libraries and 21st Century Skills. The report and accompanying Web site describe the role libraries and museums play in engaging their communities and contributing to workforce and education goals. Through a self-assessment tool, case studies, and policy analysis, the report establishes the essential role that libraries and museums play in creating an engaged citizenry and competitive workforce. The report highlights the ways in which these institutions support information, communications, and technology literacy; creativity and problem solving; civic literacy; global awareness; and other 21st century skills.

The report helps libraries and museums align institutional mission, infrastructure, staff, and programming to engage communities in learning. In 2011, IMLS facilitated a six-city Making the Learning Connection national tour, held webinars, and enhanced the initiative's Web-based resources. Look for additional Web resources this summer.

The Institute also encourages grant proposals that promote the skills necessary to develop 21st century individuals and communities.

Listen Now: 21st Century Skills Podcast
In the 4.30 minute podcast, IMLS Acting Director Marsha L. Semmel explains:

• What are 21st century skills?
• Where did the 21st century skills movement come from?
• Where do museums and libraries fit in the 21st century skills movement?

Museums, Libraries, and 21st Century Skills includes three components:

1. The Online Self-Assessment
This brief interactive survey quickly analyzes an institution’s 21st century strategies and describes next steps for action. Take online assessment at www.imls21stcenturyskills.org.
2. The Report
	The report outlines a vision for the role of libraries and museums in the national dialogue around learning and 21st century skills and includes case studies of innovative audience engagement and 21st century skills practices from across the country. Download report (PDF, 900KB)
3. The Self-Assessment Tool
The tool allows museums and libraries to determine where they fit on the continuum of 21st century skills operations and programming. Download tool (PDF, 363KB)

January 19, 2011 Press Release: Free Webinar: Libraries and 21st Century Skills

December 6, 2010 Press Release: IMLS to Hold Next 21st Century Skills Workshop at the Miami-Dade Public Library

November 4, 2010 Press Release: IMLS Holds 21st Century Skills Workshop at the San Francisco Public Library

September 7, 2010 Press Release: September 29 Webinar: 21st Century Skills for Museum Professionals

August 19, 2010 Press Release: IMLS’s Making the Learning Connection Campaign Lands in Columbia, South Carolina

August 11, 2010 Press Release: IMLS Podcast Provides Plain Language Facts about 21st Century Skills

June 16, 2010 Press Release: IMLS Launches National Campaign to Promote 21st Century Skills and Community Engagement

July 11, 2009 Event: “Unveiling of IMLS’s 21st Century Skills initiative at the Chicago Public Library’s new revolutionary teen space, YOUMedia,” Mamie Bittner, Deputy Director for the Office of Policy, Planning, Research, and Communications, Mary L. Chute, Deputy Director for Libraries, and Marsha Semmel, Deputy Director for Museums and Director for Strategic Partnerships, in partnership with representatives of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 12:30 – 2:00, Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State Street, Ground Floor, Chicago. Read remarks by Marsha Semmel.

August 28, 2009 Press Release: Museums and Libraries Meet Lifelong Learning Needs for 21st Century

June 22, 2009 Press Release: IMLS Invites Public to 21st Century Skills Discussion at National Museum and Services Library Board Meeting

September 9, 2008 Press Release: IMLS Convenes Task Force to Define 21st Century Skills for Museums and Public Libraries

Good to Grow Initiative

Begun in 2006, Good to Grow! is the Association of Children’s Museums’ nationwide health initiative. A key feature of Good to Grow! is the “Growing Healthy Museums” project. It benefits more than 300 children’s museums that in turn have the potential to engage millions of children and families in making healthy choices. Read more

Miami-Dade Public Library

The Miami-Dade County Public Library System embodies the ethic of service to community. It is viewed first and foremost as a community resource – a place where people can get what they need in a trusted setting with experienced, hands-on assistance. Read more

Maine Memory Network

Maine Memory Network (MMN) is a statewide digital museum created out of a partnership between the Maine Historical Society and the Maine State Library to increase public access and engagement with the holdings of historical societies across the state. Read more

The Pueblo of Pojoaque Public Library: Raising Readers Program

The “Raising Readers through Programs and Outreach” initiative illustrates the Pueblo of Pojoaque Public Library’s commitment to a critical community need: basic literacy. Read more

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, in partnership with The Barnes Foundation, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has developed a new initiative called Art Speaks! Read more

Skokie Public Library

Skokie, a northern suburb of Chicago, has a current population of 68,000 that has become increasingly diverse over the past 25 years. Forty-two percent of its population is now foreign born and 90 different languages are spoken throughout the community. Read more

New York Hall of Science

The Science Career Ladder (SCL) at the New York Hall of Science is an innovative education, employment, and mentoring program that hires high school and college students. The program employs 150 students as Explainers who are trained to provide the following skills: Exhibition interpretation, Science demonstrations, Orientation, Workshop support, and Visitor interaction. Read more

Download PDF (44 KB) of Suggested Further Reading on Museums, Libraries, and 21st Century Skills.