CEO DATELINE - Museum, library groups seek to boost vaccine confidence
CEO DATELINE - Museum, library groups seek to boost vaccine confidence
- August 11, 2021 |
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Walt Williams
Associations representing museums and libraries have launched an "unprecedented partnership" to boost public confidence in COVID-19 vaccinations.
The "Communities for Immunity" program will provide funding to museums, libraries, science centers and other cultural institutions to enhance vaccine confidence at the local level, according to a joint statement from the associations involved in the effort. The money will be used to develop programs and materials to educate audiences about the need for the vaccine.
Financial support comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that provides grants to museums and libraries.
"Access to information about vaccines and trusted messengers to effectively convey it locally is a matter of life and death," said Patty Wong, board president of the American Library Association. "America's 117,000 libraries provide both, serving communities at greatest risk of contracting the coronavirus and those most hesitant to receive the vaccine."
In addition to ALA, members of the partnership include the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the American Alliance of Museums, the Network of the National Library of Medicine, the Association of African American Museums, the Association of Children's Museums, the Association for Rural and Small Libraries, the Urban Libraries Council, and the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums,
"Museums and libraries are defined by their commitment to serving their communities, and we are honored to support them in doing what they do best: engaging their communities in locally-resonant learning and action to tackle big challenges," ASTC CEO Christofer Nelson said.
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