IMLS Releases FY 2022-2026 Strategic Plan

The Institute of Museum and Library Services today released a new plan to guide the agency’s programs and services over the next five years. The IMLS FY 2022–2026 Strategic Plan, encompassing the current year and culminating in the celebration of the U.S. Semiquincentinnal, frames how IMLS will advance, support, and empower America’s libraries, museums, and the communities they serve.

“In looking to our future, IMLS first looked back to our past commitments,” said IMLS Director Crosby Kemper. “A tradition of excellence in public service recommits us to support what libraries and museums have always done across our nation, but increasingly have done under trying circumstances: engaging civically with their communities, deepening lifelong learning with particular emphasis on reaching out to the underserved and under-represented, preserving the past to inform the future, and using technology to deepen both self-development and community development.”

The new plan outlines four strategic goals that will underpin the agency’s programs and services:

1. Champion Lifelong Learning: Museums, libraries, and archives are unparalleled sources of educational, information, health, job, and cultural resources. IMLS supports these institutions’ work to open themselves up to all community members and visitors, bridging the gaps of distance, resources, or experience.
2. Strengthen Community Engagement: Museums, libraries, and archives can connect community members to develop or enhance a collective sense of place where everyone can feel respected and included. IMLS enables these institutions and their partners to foster dialogue that addresses and incorporates diverse community needs and experiences.
3. Advance Collections Stewardship and Access: Museums and libraries are responsible for preserving, managing, and providing the broadest possible access to the cultural, artistic, historical, natural, and scientific collections entrusted to their care.
4. Demonstrate Excellence in Public Service: IMLS recognizes the importance of reflective practice and continual improvement in our commitment to the agency’s mission to advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations.

These four goals will guide IMLS through the next five years, alongside ongoing feedback from museum, library, and archives professionals and associations; Native American Tribes, including through Nation-to-Nation Consultations and Listening Sessions; Chief Officers of State Library Agencies; the Administration and Congress; members of the National Museum and Library Services Board; and the American public.

IMLS will assess the agency’s progress in achieving the goals and objectives framed in the strategic plan, revising it accordingly over the next five years.

The IMLS FY 2022–2026 Strategic Plan can be found here.