(Berkeley, CA) September 30, 2004—
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the federal agency that supports the nation's museums and libraries, awarded $32,447,480 to 517 museums and libraries across the country last week. This is the third and final round of IMLS grants for FY2004. IMLS received 1,040 grant applications requesting over $67 million. In California, 19 awards were given, five within the Bay Area ( for grants made by state, see: http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/stategrants0904.htm ) – including Habitot Children’s Museum in Berkeley.

"The recipients of these grant have proposed projects that espouse the best practices in the museum and library fields and enable them to deliver a higher level of service to the American public," remarked Dr. Robert Martin, Director of IMLS. IMLS administers five grant programs for libraries and five for museums. The grants will help museums and libraries provide lifelong learning, support core library and museum services, encourage excellence, foster collaboration between and among museums and libraries, promote innovation, and improve library service to Native Americans and Hawaiians.

Locally awarded to Habitot Children's Museum in Berkeley, $26,744 in funding will support the museum’s Art Reach program, which is a yearlong, comprehensive, community-based model program. ArtReach establishes an ongoing, hands-on preschool art program at a school or center based on teaching methods and activities developed at Habitot Children's Museum.

The two main goals of ArtReach are to provide preschool children in underserved communities with meaningful art experiences as a regular part of the curriculum and to provide preschool teachers, caregivers, and parents with the knowledge, resources, and training to embrace and build on children's experiences in the program.

This grant will bring the Art Reach program to two schools in Alameda County. To establish a preschool art program, school-based activities are put in place that include parent recruitment, teacher and parent volunteer orientation and training sessions, Family Art Nights, classroom arts instruction throughout the school year, and a year-end Preschool Art Show. Museum-based activities that support the in-school Art Reach program include field trips to the museum and its art studio, independent subsidized family visits to the museum, and teacher and parent volunteer training at the museum.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. To learn more about the Institute, please log on to www.imls.gov.

About Habitot:

Habitot Children’s Museum is the only hands-on, discovery museum for young children, age 7 and under, in the East Bay. The not-for-profit museum is designed to help infants, toddlers, and young children begin to understand their diverse world, encourage curiosity, and engender a lifelong love of learning – building critical problem-solving, social and communication skills.

To that end, Habitot offers six exhibits that create a multi-sensory environment for early childhood learning. Also provided are classes for parents, teachers and caregivers, as well as a full schedule of classes for children in the arts, science, dramatic play, storytelling, and music. There are more than 80,000 visitors to the museum each year, and 1,700 families have memberships. Habitot’s audience of members and visitors is culturally, geographically, and ethnically diverse.

The museum dedicates special effort to reaching low-income children, teen parents, special needs children and other at-risk youth. Access to museum programs and events is provided though free community passes, subsidized family memberships and scholarships. Teen parents participate in quarterly events in the museum tailored to their needs. Free field trips are scheduled with Head Start programs, children of low-income families, homeless shelters, disabled and medically fragile children, and many others. More than 8,000 family outreach visitors are served through these efforts each year.

Habitot is located at 2065 Kittredge Street in downtown Berkeley, California.