American Alliance of Museums Mission Matters: Relevance and Museums in the 21st Century (American Alliance of Museums)

Mission Matters sheds a fresh light on how to envision relevant and impactful museums. Anderson takes the understanding of mission relevance to a new level. The premise of the book reflects external contemporary realities and the need for museums to better position themselves as leaders and change agents in the greater landscape and diversity of people.. Anderson illustrates her points with numerous examples from the US and around the world. Features include essays by David Fleming from the UK who tackles the importance of mission and social issues, and Charmaine Jefferson who frames the complexities of cultural competence in the 21st century. Twenty museum leaders each share their institution's story of transformative change informed by reframing their mission. Anderson's methodology for the book, the Mission Alignment Framework, helps reference the thinking about missions and the subsequent changes within museums as they redirect their work. Eighty US and international mission statements reveal the range of museums disciplines and demographics from urban and rural , and styles of mission all illustrating relevance to their unique settings, institutional capacity, resources, and purpose. Complementing these examples are guidelines about how to rethink mission, a questioning strategy based on the Mission Alignment Framework, and, a range of useful tools from museums and leading thinkers in the field. Mission Matters is useful to a wide range of readers and users from trustees to directors to staff from a wide range of museums regardless of size and stage of development and maturity. The book is an easily accessible reference for strategic planning, conversations about relevance and missions, and museums considering the reinvention of their museum for greater impact. Review Anderson helps the reader appreciate that the vital link between a museum and its community is its commitment to a mission that demands it grapple with questions and issues that matter. This book, combining thoughtful essays, powerful case studies, and practical advice and guidance, guides the reader though the process of re-envisioning and re-articulating a museum's changing and vital function in the 21st century.--Laura B. Roberts, principal, Roberts Consulting and faculty, Harvard University Program in Museum Studies Anderson offers a surprisingly engaging how-to and why-to book that demonstrates the power of the process of developing a museum mission statement. The generous real world examples reflect the breadth and diversity of museums and communities in the 21st century, and Anderson's deft analyses point to new perspectives for what defines local success as well as a collective commitment.--Sonnet Takahisa, Director, Strategic Education Initiatives, Newark Museum This book is right on the money. The world is making ever-increasing demands of museums leading to all sorts of tensions and controversies. Strong missions are increasingly important in order to help museums cope with these pressures. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to all who are involved in museum management. Gail Anderson is an expert in this field, and we are fortunate that she has produced a contemporary view of such importance.--David Fleming, Ph.D., Professor of Public History at Hope University in Liverpool, England, and former Director of the National Museums Liverpool About the Author Gail Anderson has dedicated much of her time over her 40+ year career researching, amassing and sharing resources and new ideas to advance the museum field. With all the pressures that museum leaders face on a daily basis, her goal has been to make resources easily available with practical and accessible approaches ad tools. Anderson, president of Gail Anderson & Associates (GA&A) works with museum leaders facilitating institutional transformation, building institutional and leadership capacity, and expanding community and global relevance. GA&A works with mu