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Tell Congress: Support Increased Funding for IMLS Office of Museum Services

[[Your Name]]
[[Your Address]]

The Honorable XXX XXXX
United States Senate/House
XXXX Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4601

We urge Congress to support increased funding, of at least $35 million, in FY13 for the Office of Museum Services (OMS), which is located within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). This independent federal agency is funded through the annual Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill.

IMLS is the primary federal agency responsible for helping museums connect people to information and ideas. This funding is critically important to the museums in your community in their work educating students and driving the local economy. The agency was reauthorized - unanimously - by Congress in December 2010, and the new law authorized $38.6 million for the Office of Museum Services. Unfortunately, the final FY12 budget provided only $30.8 million.

The Office of Museum Services awards grants to museums for educational programming, technology upgrades, professional development, and to preserve precious collections. It supports a wide range of museums - aquariums, arboretums, archaeological museums, art museums, botanical gardens, children's museums, culturally specific museums, historic sites, history museums, maritime museums, military museums, natural history museums, nature centers, planetariums, science and technology centers, zoological parks, and other types of museums. These grants often spur additional gifts from private donors and help leverage funding from additional sources, expanding the reach of the federal dollar. Please let me know if I can provide any additional information about OMS funding for museums.

Sincerely,

[[YourName]]