IMLS Announces 2025 Winners of National Medal for Museum and Library Service

Ten institutions recognized for unparalleled program and service delivery

WASHINGTON, DC— The Institute of Museum and Library Services has announced the winners of the 2025 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

Since 1994, the National Medal has recognized institutions for their significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. This year, five museums and five libraries will receive the prestigious award. Each medalist represents the administration’s mission of utilizing public resources to increase literacy, enhance local economies, preserve our nation’s artifacts and documents and focus upon preparing people to succeed in a changing world.

Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling, who as Acting Director of IMLS selected these awardees from a competitive, peer-reviewed slate of finalists, said:

“I am honored to have had the opportunity to award the National Medal for Museum and Library Service to these exceptional cultural institutions. They truly represent some of the best that the museum and library fields have to offer America and its citizens”

All National Medals recipients were nominated by their community members, then selected through a competitive, multi-stage process. Sonderling also said:

"During the first year of the second Trump administration, IMLS refocused its priorities to meet emerging needs of the American people and their cultural institutions. IMLS continues to ensure that federal resources are used to build literacy, expand library and museum programming capacity, protect our priceless historical artifacts, and reacquaint the public with America’s founding and core principles."

IMLS thanks all who submitted nominations and congratulates the 2025 winners.

Winning museums:

• Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation (Little Rock, AR) is Arkansas’ oldest art museum. Over the decades, the museum has further defined itself as a performing arts center, a studio art school, a place of learning, and a cultural hub for its community, vitally contributing to the education, quality of life, and economic development of its community.
• Citizen Potawatomi National Cultural Heritage Museum (Shawnee, OK) is a source of history and learning to Tribal citizens and the public, unifying and perpetuating the diverse culture, traditions and history of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation through research, interpretation and exhibition. The cultural heritage center also houses a research library, veterans memorial, educational spaces, and the Tribal Language Department.
• Maine Discovery Museum (Bangor, ME) has developed deep and vital partnerships with other nonprofits to provide educational programing throughout the state, often going to rural and underserved communities to bring their expertise to them. The museum also has relationships with a wide network of community anchors like libraries, parks and recreation departments, and schools to provide educational and enrichment programming.
• Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History (Kennesaw, GA) collects, preserves, and interprets items relating to the role of steam locomotives and railroads in the South. Exhibits and programming highlight the pre-Civil War era, Civil War railroad history, the manufacture of steam locomotives during the post-Civil War industrialization of the South, and railroads significant to the economic and social development of the Southeastern United States.
• Texas Heritage Museum (Hillsboro, TX) works to concisely capture visitor experiences through surveys, veteran journal entries in exhibits, and interactions with its educational programs. Museum staff showcase the experiences of Texans, who represent various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, during war. Every soldier’s experience is equally important to the museum, and staff want to share and exemplify their stories for future generations that visit and tour the museum.

Winning libraries:

• Haines Borough Public Library (Haines, AK) is notable in its longstanding collaboration with the Chilkoot Indian Association, which has led to award-winning programs that meet Native and non-Native needs. It also demonstrates a holistic approach to youth programming, incorporating outside wellness activities and healthy eating habits.
• Mengle Memorial Library (Brockway, PA) excels in early learning and youth programming with a Family Place space, story hours, and programs to help parents learn about child development. All Kindergarten classes visit the library, and the library and school have a strong partnership. The library works to advance digital capacity through one-on-one technology assistance with a focus on digital inclusion and access to digital and informational resources, including e-books and materials to help address workforce development and public health.
• Nicholas P. Sims Library (Waxahachie, TX) works tirelessly to respond to the community’s needs. Their Bookmobile visits daycares, nursing homes, after-school programs, city events, the Senior Center, and many other locations to provide access to a wide variety of resources. The library focuses heavily on programming for the youngest patrons. Sims Library’s Lyceum is one of the few active Lyceums available in Texas and has been beautifully preserved while remaining a vibrant site for programs, special events, concerts, and author talks.
• Terrebonne Parish Library System (Terrebonne, LA) is attuned to several specific needs, including food insecurity, low educational attainment, digital access, and disaster response. Through partnerships with organizations like the Red Cross, the library has established its locations as emergency resource centers. They also work to support the genealogy and traditions of indigenous communities, particularly the Houma Indians.
• Ten Sleep Branch Library (Ten Sleep, WY) provides a combination school and public library that serves the Town of Ten Sleep and the outlying ranching and farming community. The library offers a variety of programs including craft workshops, book discussions, Creative Aging programs for senior citizens, story hours for young children, reading programs, and after-school programming for youth. They help meet health needs for the rural community with blood pressure cuffs, an emergency defibrillator, a large print reader, and a new mobile health unit.  

Lisa Solomson, the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director, praised awardees saying, "Each medalist’s success in their community exemplifies the positive which can be accomplished by our libraries and museums throughout the nation, and through this recognition IMLS hopes that others will be inspired by this excellence in the years ahead.”