Geneva History Museum receives highest national recognition

GENEVA – The Geneva History Museum achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums, the museum announced in a news release.

Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, governments, funders, outside agencies and the museum-going public.

The Geneva History Museum, 113 S. Third St., is the first in Kane County to achieve national accreditation and one of only 34 museums accredited in Illinois.

“The Geneva History Museum has worked tirelessly to improve best practices to ensure that Geneva’s history continues to be collected, preserved and shared within the standards set by AAM,” Museum Executive Director Terry Emma said in the release. “The accreditation process has been an eye-opening experience that has already opened doors to large grant projects. We are proud to be the first nationally accredited museum in Kane County, Illinois.”

Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, 1,096 currently are accredited.

Alliance Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement, according to the release.

Developed and sustained by museum professionals for 50 years, the Alliance’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability.

The program strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely and remain financially and ethically accountable in order to provide the best possible service to the public, according to the release.

Accreditation is a rigorous but rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations.

To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers.

The Alliance’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.

“Accredited museums are a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence,” Alliance President and CEO Laura Lott said in the release. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.”

The Geneva History Museum is a nonprofit organization that has been collecting, preserving and sharing Geneva’s story since 1943, according to the release.

The museum offers two galleries for exhibitions, regular programming, research services and tours. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for seniors, children and students. It is free on Tuesdays and for museum members.

The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community, according to the release.

Representing more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community, according to the release.