FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2005

Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Eileen Maxwell, emaxwell@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov

IMLS Presents Grants Workshop with Congresswoman McCarthy (NY-04) for Nassau County's Museums and Libraries

Washington, DC—At the invitation of U.S. Representative Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) presented a workshop on July 11, 2005 to help museums and libraries in Nassau County learn about government funding opportunities. Over 50 museum and library professionals from Nassau County attended the workshop at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library.

“Libraries are more important today than ever. Seniors use them; children use them; they're gathering places. The whole community uses them,” remarked Congresswoman McCarthy. “There is federal funding available to libraries. It's very competitive though. That's why I asked the Institute of Museum and Library Services to hold this workshop, to make sure Nassau County libraries and museums are equipped to compete with their counterparts across the country.”

The workshop highlighted federal funding opportunities as well as state. Presenters included Mary Chute, IMLS Acting Director and Deputy Director of Library Services; Schroeder Cherry, IMLS Deputy Director of Museum Services, Jackie Thresher, Director of the Nassau County Library System; and Kristen Herron, Director of Museum Programs for the New York State Council on the Arts. “The coming together of federal and state government funders under one roof provides an excellent opportunity for Nassau County’s museums and libraries to learn of the many government resources available to them,” said Mary Chute. “We are so pleased Congresswoman McCarthy has made this opportunity possible.”

Also on hand to provide a perspective from successful IMLS grant applicants were Lawrence Jennings, Human Resources Director and Jerome Myers, PULSE Project Manager, with the Brooklyn Public Library. The two demonstrated the IMLS funded Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online, a free online repository of the newspapers the Eagle published from 1841 – 1902 that provides the public access to fascinating first hand accounts of seminal events in our nation’s history such as the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln. They also spoke on the success of PULSE, an innovative recruitment program to attract students to library careers by providing work and training opportunities in every facet of the profession.

An animated question and answer session followed the presentations that, as one participant characterized, “really got down to the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what makes a successful IMLS grant application.” To learn more about IMLS grants, visit the IMLS Web site at http://www.imls.gov.