Book Review - Museums and Public Value: Creating Sustainable Futures

image from Amazon.ca

It feels great to be back into the swing of professional life after a year away, and to be reading books other than The Paper Bag Princess and Octopus Opposites (although those are both awesome and favourite books). In hindsight, this probably wasn't the best book to start with. It's a bit denser than others in our library, and as such required more focus and attention.

Published in 2013 by Ashgate and edited by Carol A. Scott, this book takes a look at Mark Moore's theory about public value. For those like me who were unfamiliar with his model, it asserts that there is a strategic triangle of public value, consisting of the authorizing environment (ie government departments, agencies, etc. that provide funding and other support), the operation environment (ie museums' organizational capacity), and public value outcomes (ie the shared purpose of relevant public service). The points of the triangle feed back and forth, so public value informs how a museum operates, which in turn informs how funders and agencies provide support. Or you can start with another point, such as a museum's capacity informing how it can serve its public, as well as which funding or support it can pursue from governments or other agencies.

Moore encourages us to embrace change rather than see it as a troubling challenge, and Scott captures this beautifully in her introduction, where she shares Moore's vision of seeing "public managers as proactive stewards of public assets that can be directed purposefully to making 'a positive difference in the lives of individuals and communities', and as leaders with influence to help governments 'discover what could be done with the assets entrusted to their offices, as well as ensuring responsive services to users and citizens'".

17 contributors share their thoughts and experiences in three sections: The Operational Environment: Public Value Building Blocks, Case Studies: Implementing Public Value, and Working with the Authorizing Environment. While the chapters and content vary, the focus is always on public service and engagement, working together, and being good stewards of resources. Again and again, contributors mention the need to measure programs against community needs, to get rid of old top-down models and focus on grassroots collaborations where our communities tell us what matters to them and what services they need, to plan for social impact, and to think of ourselves as community strategists rather than managers or directors.

Depending on where you are in your work life, and what is on your plate, you will likely find something in this book you can identify with. For me, there is some great information about the value of evaluations and how these can inform a museum's work. In Munley's essay on evaluating public value, she reminds us of the need to focus on social impact, have a strategic focus, give attention to learning and change, extend beyond the views of our visitors and members and reach out to everyone (including people who don't visit or engage with the museum), view other organizations as partners rather than competitors, and be sure to align resources and achievements with social needs. I also really appreciated the final chapters, where Marsha Semmel discusses the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a US federal agency, and Sharon Heal shares the perspective of a national association (UK). An interesting point was made about accredited museums having a stronger lobbying voice, which is not something that we have been discussing as we develop an accreditation program.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of talk about being good stewards, and none of the contributors shied away from making bold statements and harsh reminders of the current museum reality. Semmel shares some sobering thoughts that were first published by Morino in 2011, "the cold reality is that in our present era of unsustainable debts and deficits, our nation simply will not be able to justify huge subsidies for social sector activities and entities without more assurance that they're on track to realize results. Public funders-and eventually private funders as well-will migrate away from organizations with stirring stories alone, toward well-managed organizations that can also demonstrate meaningful, lasting impact." In a great call to action that ties in nicely with this, Heal shares part of the Museum Strategy for Wales, which states that "dismantling barriers to access, developing the learning potential of museums, and engaging existing and new users are critical issues to be addressed if museums are to fulfil their potential as organisations that contribute to their local communities". It's a good reminder that museums should not be defining what matters to their public without talking directly with the public. The answers are going to be different for each museum.

Another chapter that really struck a chord with me was Ben Garcia's "Creating Public Value through Museum Education", aka chapter 6. He encourages museums to plan strategically and always ask themselves "How will my community be different in positive and recognized ways because the museum exists and undertook this effort?" I wonder if asking that question would alter our programs, exhibits, online presence...everything that we are doing. What sort of impact would we have if we kept that question at the forefront. He also hit the nail on the head when he said that "evaluation is too often motivated by a funding opportunity and not by a strategic desire to test the value of museum programmes against the public need." We are still having those conversations with some museums, so it was reassuring to hear that this is not something unique to Nova Scotia.

For those working as interpreters or in exhibit development, there is a great case study about sharing 'difficult knowledge'. While it is slowly becoming more common for museums to share uncomfortable truths and information, the authors of chapter 7 share some encouragement from their experience in co-producing the London, Sugar and Slavery Gallery. The development was a community collaboration, and used a steering group, special training sessions, and other methods to ensure that real people and stories were being shared, rather than just dates and figures, and that the new gallery would be helping to address real issues in the community. A visiting teacher applauded the museum's efforts, saying "we are impressed by the courage shown in the description of what will stay as a dark period of our European history. I would like, and my pupils, to thank the museum for such a brilliant experience." What museum wouldn't want to get feedback like that? As the authors conclude, there is a "need to create a gallery that is authentic, complex, and nuanced."

Heal includes a great quote from a discussion paper by Davies, which seems like the perfect way to end this. "Museums of all types have vast potential to make a difference to individuals, communities, society and the environment. Yet in most museums, much of this works seems marginal, perhaps not core business. The [Museum Association] believes that having a beneficial impact is the core business of museums. The activities of acquiring, preserving, managing, researching, interpreting and displaying collections are all a means to an end."