Kane County Reporter

BATAVIA – The Batavia Depot Museum was selected on March 15 to participate in the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), which is administered by the American Alliance of Museums.

Through guided self-study assessment and onsite consultation with a museum professional, participation in MAP will empower the Batavia Depot Museum to better serve the citizens of Batavia and to attain the highest professional standards of the museum field.

“We are extremely pleased to have been selected. This program symbolizes that the stewards of Batavia’s rich, multi-layered history strive to document, preserve, and share precious artifacts that tell our community’s story with a high degree of professionalism and respect for both the people and the material culture that came before us,” said Batavia Depot Museum Curator Heather Bigeck.

Participation in the MAP program is made possible through funding provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). MAP helps museums strengthen operations, plan for the future, and meet standards through self-study assessment and a site visit from an expert peer reviewer.

“Choosing to be part of the MAP program is indicative of the commitment to civic involvement, public service and overall excellence on the part of the Batavia Depot Museum,” AAM President Laura Lott said. “Studies have shown America’s museums to be among the country’s most trusted and valued institutions. MAP is designed to make them even better.”

The Batavia Depot Museum has chosen to do a MAP Collections Stewardship assessment in order to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of the collection and how we can achieve a high level of professional care for the collections.

Through collecting, preserving, interpreting and exhibiting the history of Batavia, the Batavia Depot Museum forever captures and preserves the accomplishments of Batavians, while enriching public knowledge and creating leisure and educational opportunities for the community.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to improve our service to the community. The Museum has been collecting and preserving Batavia's history for nearly a half a century," said Batavia Depot Museum Director Kate Garrett. "This program will help us evaluate how to spend our resources wisely to do the most good for the collection." 

Museum staff continue to professionalize not only the collections storage areas, but also the policies and procedures, acquisitions process, online capabilities, exhibits, gift shop items, and educational programming. MAP review will help guide their efforts in a more constructive manner. It also may reinforce or guide staff toward areas that need improvement or additional consideration.

Since its creation in 1981, the MAP program has served more than 5,000 museums. MAP is supported through a cooperative agreement between AAM and IMLS. For more information, including a complete list of museums participating in MAP, please visit www.aam-us.org/map or call 202-289-9118.

AAM is the only organization representing the nation’s entire museum community and has been dedicated to promoting excellence within the museum field for more than 100 years. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums. To learn more about the Institute, please visit: http://www.imls.gov.

For current happenings at the Depot Museum, including information about our two current exhibits: “Refraction: Finding Identity” and “Inspiring Expression,” please check out our Museum events page at https://bataviaparks.org/batavia-depot-museum and follow us on social media.

Batavia Depot Museum is located at 155 Houston St. In spring it is open from 2 to 4 p.m. daily, except on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please call 630-406-5274 to schedule an appointment outside of those hours. We look forward to seeing you.

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