How many museums are there in the United States? There are at least 17,500.
Is there a directory or list of museums in the United States and around the world?
The Official Museum Directory (OMD) is the most comprehensive directory of museums in the United States, with more than 8,300 entries. Published annually, this reference book lists participating museums by state as well as alphabetically.
The International Council of Museums (ICOM) website lists print and online directories of museums. The list includes publications that are available for sale as well as those that are part of ICOM’s Information Center.
Where can I get a list of different types of museums, such as maritime, children’s, or culturally-specific?
- AAM has an online directory of its member museums that can be searched by name, location or category.
- The Fire Museum Network has an online directory of the almost 300 museums devoted to the history of firefighting.
Volume 2 of The Official Museum Directory (OMD) provides an index to museums in more than 70 categories, such as toy & doll museums, military museums, folk art museums, and entomology museums.
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How can I learn more about the museums in my state?
Each of the country's six regions has an association that serves museums in its member states. In addition, many states have an association that assists and promotes its museums.
Mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums
Midwest
Association of Midwest Museums
Mountain-Plains
Mountain-Plains Museum Association
New England
New England Museum Association
Southeast
Southeastern Museums Conference
West
Western Museums Association
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How many people visit museums in the United States? Which type receives the most visitors?
AAM estimates that American museums receive 850 million visitors per year.
AAM’s 2009 Museum Financial Information survey found that the median annual attendance for different types of museums is as follows:
Art Museum
| 44,878 |
Children's/Youth Museum
| 130,870
|
General Museum
| 58,500
|
Historic House/Site
| 11,700 |
History Museum/Historical Society
| 10,000
|
Living Collections
| 208,574 |
Natural History/Anthropology Museum
| 58,176 |
Science/Technology Center/Museum
| 357,103 |
Specialized Museum
| 22,000 |
6. How much do people spend when visiting museums? AM’s 2009 Museum Financial Information survey found that the median cost for museum admission is $7, but a third charge no admission at all. The median earned income is $7.22 per visitor.
The median cost of serving a visitor is $31.40. A museum’s earned income generates only about one-third of this amount. Private charitable donations are the largest source of operating income for museums (about 35%). Government funding provides just under 25%, and investment income about 10%.
Can AAM provide the address and phone number for a museum?
AAM does not provide contact information for individual museums. Most museums maintain their own websites which include contact information. Use a search engine to locate the museum’s website. In addition, Volume 1 of The Official Museum Directory (OMD) provides contact information for participating museums.
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What are AAM’s standards for …?
There is no single set of museum standards. In some instances, museums rely on the standards from outside the profession, such as accounting standards. AAM has compiled the field’s core operational principles in National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums.
- Standards are generally accepted levels that all museums are expected to achieve.
- Best practices are commendable actions and philosophies that demonstrate an awareness of standards, solve problems and can be replicated. Museums may choose to emulate them if appropriate to their circumstances.
These voluntary national standards and best practices address “big picture” issues about how museums operate—for the most part they define broad outcomes that can be achieved in many different ways. They serve as benchmarks against which museums measure their own performance. They also help policy makers, media, philanthropic organizations, donors and members of the public to assess museums’ achievements.
We want to start a new museum. Can AAM help?
AAM offers several books in its bookstore that address the multitude of issues related to starting and sustaining a successful museum. These titles are an excellent place to start:
- Code of Ethics for Museums. Issued by the American Association of Museums in 2000, this provides a framework for developing an institution’s own code of ethics and reflects the current, generally understood standards of the museum field. The Code of Ethics is available free on AAM’s website.
- Organizing Your Museum: The Essentials. Featuring practical information and advice that trustees, volunteers or staff need to know about starting a museum and successfully managing every stage of its development. Included are sample bylaws, mission statements, long-range plans, job descriptions, collections management policies, and readings.
- Starting Right: A Basic Guide to Museum Planning. The authors explain museums both philosophically and historically, pros and cons of establishing a museum, outline and provide up-to-date resource lists and advice on all aspects of museums from the choice of a building through collections care, registration, exhibitions, conservation, staffing, financial management and fund-raising.
Consider joining AAM even during the planning stage. Institutional member museums have access to the Information Center’s resources on museum operations, standards and best practices, and a wide variety of sample documents.
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Does AAM offer scholarships or grants?
To encourage the ongoing growth and development of museum professionals, AAM offers a number of fellowships that provide support to attend AAM Professional Education Seminars and the AAM Annual Meeting.
AAM's Museums and Community Collaborations Abroad (MCCA) fosters museum-based international exchanges in which members of the museums’ communities play a leading role in shaping their own collaborative experience. Grants are offered in amounts up to $100,000 with a required 50% cost share match. Funding for MCCA is provided through a partnership with the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
AAM administers the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), which can be funded with a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
How do I pursue a museum career or obtain training in museum studies?
Graduate Training in Museum Studies: What Students Need to Know helps future museum professionals assess training options in museum studies. It poses a series of questions to help research graduate training programs and plan a museum career.
The Smithsonian Institution’s Career Center has brief explanations of the duties and skills needed for a variety of museum jobs. The Smithsonian Institution's Center for Education and Museum Studies has a directory of university training programs in museum studies, historic preservation, public history and nonprofit management.
GradSchools offers a directory of graduate programs in museum studies and historic preservation. The directory includes distance learning programs and programs outside the U.S.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides Career Guides that describe particular industries, working conditions, training, employment outlook and earnings. Museums are included in 2 categories: Arts, Entertainment & Recreation and Archivists, Curators & Museum Technicians.
Reading the job ads in AAM’s Job HQ will provide an understanding of the education, experience and skills that museums are requiring for specific jobs.
I have an item I want to sell or donate to a museum. How do I find an interested museum?
Identify museums with missions and collections related to the object. Most museums maintain websites including their missions and a description of the collections.
Donors and sellers should keep in mind that a museum incurs legal, social and ethical obligations to provide proper physical storage, management and care for the collections and associated documentation, as well as proper intellectual control. Collections are held in trust for the public (both present and future generations) and made accessible for their benefit.
Because of these obligations and their financial impact, museums must be selective in what they add to their collections. A museum generally will accept an object only if it is free of all conditions and restrictions imposed by the donor or seller. Once an unrestricted title is transferred to the museum, the donor or seller relinquishes all rights to the object. The donor or seller has no say as to when or how the object is exhibited. Future generations have no claim in asking that the object be returned to the family.
I want to get an object appraised. Where should I take it?
AAM does not make recommendations for any type of product or contracted service. The Official Museum Directory has an online database of products and services that can be used to locate suppliers who specialize in the museum field. The directory has a list of individual appraisers as well the American Society of Appraisers.
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