The fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) would fund IMLS at $232.0 million, the same as the FY 2012 enacted level.
Museum services would receive $29.4 million, which is unchanged from the current fiscal year. Funding for Research, Analysis, Evaluation and Data Collection, a budget line that was recreated after the reauthorization of the Museum and Library Services Act of 2010, would remain at $1.9 million.
The budget request includes support for the first ever census of museums in the United States. According to IMLS budget documents: “IMLS is undertaking a comprehensive census of museums in the U.S. At this time no accurate inventory exists and we believe that our current assumptions vastly underestimate the number of U.S. museums. This data will help public officials and practitioners make informed policy decisions about the future of museum service in the U.S.â€
The budget also would support “innovative development of digital collections and develop new tools to help people find and use digital resources†through the National Leadership Grant program.
The complete budget request for IMLS can be downloaded at www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/FY13_CJ.pdf.