Washington, DC, 8/7/2007 - The Board of Directors of the American Association of Museums (AAM) recently approved the first national museum standard on facilities and risk management in museums. “AAM Standards for U.S. Museums Regarding Facilities and Risk Management” outlines the basic responsibilities of any museum in caring for people, collections, buildings, and grounds. As with all AAM standards, it is broad, describing desirable outcomes that a museum can achieve using methods appropriate to its mission and resources.

Over 17,500 museums serve the American public as stewards of artistic, cultural, and scientific resources. It is incumbent upon museums to provide for the safety of their visitors and staff, and ensure the preservation of their collections, structures, and grounds. A 2005 survey of collecting institutions conducted by Heritage Preservation, revealed the challenges in achieving this—fewer than 20% of museums have an emergency preparedness plan, with staff trained and practiced in implementing it.

The new AAM standard can help museums assess their performance against national expectations for facilities and risk management, identify areas for improvement, and seek resources to support their needs for planning, training, and implementation of emergency preparedness. Compliance with national museum standards is voluntary. Those museums that have achieved accreditation by the AAM will be assessed against this new standard in subsequent accreditation reviews.

“AAM serves the museum community by fostering discussion and dissemination of standards and best practices, tools critical to helping museums fulfill their responsibilities as public institutions,” said Ford W. Bell, president of the AAM. “In addition, AAM standards help policy makers, the media, philanthropic organizations, donors and members of the public better understand and recognize the achievements and service of museums nationwide.”

The American Association of Museums serves as the voice of the U.S. museum community and as a forum for discussion and resolution of important issues facing the museum field. Ongoing, field-wide discussion takes place through the Museum Assessment and Accreditation Programs, peer review, seminars, meetings, AAM’s periodicals and books, and numerous professional committees. AAM captures the consensus of the field regarding standards (generally accepted levels that all museums are expected to achieve) and best practices (replicable actions and philosophies that demonstrate an awareness of standards).

Visit http://www.aam-us.org/aboutmuseums/standards/index.cfm to read the complete standard on facilities and risk management and other standards and best practices for museums.

About the American Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. With more than 15,000 individual, 3,000 institutional, and 300 corporate members, AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

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