HOT SPRINGS — The Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs is one of 10 museums and libraries being honored with the 2016 National Medal for Museum and Library Service at the White House this week.
Mid-America will be represented at Wednesday’s White House ceremony by Executive Director Diane LaFollette and Brian Gehrki, chairman of the museum’s board of directors. The medal is the highest award given to U.S. museums and libraries for service to the community.
The museums will be honored by first lady Michelle Obama and by Kathryn Matthew, director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
A member of the community of each recognized institution also will participate in the ceremony and share how the institution has affected his life.
Former Mid-America Science Museum employee Casey Wylie will accompany LaFollette and Gehrki to tell her story.
After graduating from college, Wylie took a position at Mid-America, where she had volunteered in her youth. At the museum, she brought innovative science programming to children at 15 schools across Arkansas.
Wylie said she had been disillusioned by the education system, but she credits her time working at Mid-America with reigniting her passion for teaching, a news release said.
She is now a fifth-grade science teacher pursuing a master’s degree in teaching, and she has taken the museum-style approach to teaching science in her classroom.
“If I hadn’t been at the Mid-America Science Museum, I never would’ve become a teacher. The experience of being a hands-on educator at the museum reawakened my passion for working with children and helping them make discoveries,” Wylie said in the release.
The other 2016 National Medal for Museum and Library Service recipients are:
Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Chicago History Museum.
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, S.C.
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center for Children, Gulfport, Miss.
Madison Public Library, Madison, Wis.
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
Otis Library, Norwich, Conn.
Santa Ana Public Library, Santa Ana, Calif.
Tomaquag Museum, Exeter, R.I.
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. Its mission is to inspire libraries and museums to advance innovation, lifelong learning, and cultural and civic engagement.