Geneva History Museum Receives Highest National Recognition
Awarded Accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums
The Geneva History Museum has achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public. The Geneva History Museum is the first in Kane County to achieve national accreditation. Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, over 1096 are currently accredited. Geneva History Museum is one of only 34 museums accredited in Illinois.
Alliance Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for 50 years, the Alliance’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and remain financially and ethically accountable in order to provide the best possible service to the public.
“The Geneva History Museum has worked tirelessly to improve best practices to ensure that Geneva’s history continues to be collected, preserved and shared within the standards set by AAM,” said museum director, Terry Emma. “The accreditation process has been an eye-opening experience that has already opened doors to large grant projects. We are proud to be the first nationally accredited museum in Kane County, Illinois.”
Accreditation is a very rigorous but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. The Alliance’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.
“Accredited museums are a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence,” said Laura L. Lott, Alliance President and CEO. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.”
The Geneva History Museum is a nonprofit organization that has been collecting, preserving and sharing Geneva’s story since 1943. The museum offers two galleries for exhibitions, regular programming, research services and tours. Located at 113 South Third Street, gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday thru Saturday. Admission is $5/adult, $2/seniors, children & students, free on Tuesdays and for museum members. For more information contact 630-232-4951 or visit GenevaHistoryMuseum.org.
About the American Alliance of Museums
The American Alliance 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. Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.