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Cedar Rapids Public Library finalist for ‘nation’s highest honor’
Molly Duffy
Mar. 21, 2017 6:43 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS - The Legacy series, a program offered by the Cedar Rapids Public Library, has provided a forum in recent months for area residents to share stories about their experiences living in Iowa as black men and women and immigrants.
'It's fun to talk about the subjects that might make people a little uncomfortable, and things we might not know that much about,” said Amber Mussman, a spokeswoman for the library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE. 'That's something the library is very good at, creating that civic dialogue.”
The Legacy programming and other events have helped earn the Cedar Rapids Public Library recognition as a finalist for the 2017 National Medal for Museum and Library Service - the 'nation's highest honor given to museums and libraries for service to the community,” according to an Institute of Museum and Library Services news release.
The Institute announced the medal's 30 finalists Monday. The Cedar Rapids Public Library, one of 15 libraries named, is the only finalist from Iowa.
'It's just such a big deal in the library community,” Mussman said. 'I hope the community is really excited.”
Finalists were recognized for 'providing outstanding programs and services that meet community needs,” an institute spokeswoman said. Libraries and museums applied for the award.
At the Cedar Rapids Public Library, Mussman said those programs include the Legacy series, done in partnership with the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Committee; the MICRO Loan program, which connects prospective small-business owners to librarians who can help them apply for a loan and develop a business plan; and the Summer Dare Everywhere program, which incorporates literacy programs into the community's existing summer programs.
The Library's program attendance in fiscal year 2016 was 51,416, up from 50,297 in fiscal year 2015. According to library data, programming attendance has increased while overall visits to the library - 697,007 to 656,139 - and circulation numbers - 1,552,006 to 1,102,808 - have fallen during the same time period.
National Medal winners are to be announced this spring with representatives from winning organizations to be honored at a White House ceremony.
The Finalists
Here is a list of 2017 finalists for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service:
Libraries
Haines Borough Public Library (Haines, Alaska)
Long Beach Public Library (Long Beach, Calif.)
Sacramento Public Library (Sacramento, Calif.)
Cedar Rapids Public Library
Illinois Fire Service Institute Library (Champaign, Ill.)
Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library (Evansville, Ind.)
Terrebonne Parish Library (Houma, La.)
Waterville Public Library (Waterville, Maine)
University of Minnesota Libraries (Minneapolis)
Rochester Public Library (Rochester, Minn.)
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library (Charlotte, N.C.)
Tulsa City-County Library (Tulsa, Okla.)
James V. Brown Library (Williamsport, Penn.)
Richland County Public Library (Columbia, S.C.)
George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library (Conroe, Texas)
Museums
State Of Alaska Department Of Education and Early Development - Alaska State Museum (Juneau, Alaska)
Tucson Children's Museum (Tucson, Ariz.)
Regents of the University of California-Lawrence Hall of Science (Berkeley, Calif.)
Pretend City, The Children's Museum of Orange County (Irvine, Calif.)
Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park (Oakland, Calif.)
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (San Diego)
Aspen Art Museum (Aspen, Colo.)
Orlando Science Center (Orlando, Fla.)
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (Chicago, Ill.)
Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center (Skokie, Ill.)
Detroit Zoological Society (Royal Oak, Mich.)
Mississippi Children's Museum (Jackson, Miss.)
Discovery Place (Charlotte, N.C.)
Children's Museum of Manhattan (New York)
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (Wausau, Wis.)