This morning, First Lady Michelle Obama joined the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Acting Director Maura Marx to present the 2015 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Ten institutions from across the country attended the White House Ceremony to be recognized for outstanding service to their communities. These organizations demonstrate significant impact and high quality of programs, services, and partnerships, and were selected among thirty finalists. Robert Lynch, CEO of Americans for the Arts, attended the ceremony today. 

The 2015 National Medal for Museum and Library Service recipients are:

• Amazement Square (Lynchburg, VA)
• Cecil County Public Library (Elkton, MD)
• Craig Public Library (Craig, AK)
• Embudo Valley Library and Community Center (Dixon, NM)
• Los Angeles Public Library (Los Angeles, CA)
• Louisiana Children’s Museum (New Orleans, LA)
• Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, AZ)
• New York Hall of Science (Queens, NY)
• The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York, NY)
• The Tech Museum of Innovation (San Jose, CA)

The First Lady presented the National Medal to the museum and library directors and to community members from each institution, who shared how the library or museum has impacted their lives.

In her remarks, First Lady Michelle Obama said to the recipients, “The services that you all provide are not luxuries. Just the opposite. Every day your institutions are keeping so many folks in this country from falling through the cracks. In many communities our libraries and museums are the places that help young people dream bigger and reach higher for their futures, the places that help new immigrants learn English and apply for citizenship…the places where folks can access a computer and send out a job application so they can get back to work and get back to the important process of supporting their families.”

Acting director of IMLS, Maura Marx, said “The 2015 National Medal for Museum and Library Service recipients have demonstrated great determination and dexterity in addressing critical needs of their communities. Their successes are exemplified in the stories of community members whose lives were profoundly changed for the better, thanks to the support of these institutions.”

A video produced for IMLS by HISTORY that honors the winners was also shown at the ceremony. Later this year, StoryCorps—a national nonprofit dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Americans—will visit the recipient institutions to document stories from the community. The next deadline for nominating a museum or library is October 1, 2015. Learn more about the National Medal at www.imls.gov/medals.