Illinois State Museum Mission

The Illinois State Museum is dedicated to sharing Illinois stories, honoring its cultural and natural resources, and inspiring our future.

The Illinois State Museum, Museum Board of Directors, and Museum Staff all share fundamental values:

1. Accountability: The Museum will fulfill the responsibilities to collect and preserve, to educate the public, and to investigate and study as expressed in Illinois state statutes and applicable federal and international laws.

2. Trustworthiness: The Museum will operate transparently and ethically according to best practices and will be exceptional stewards of resources held in the public trust.

3. Curiosity: The Museum believes in the value of research and encourages exploration and discovery, the acquisition of knowledge, and using that knowledge to resolve issues and improve quality of life.

4. Responsibility: The Museum embraces the mandate to educate by sharing knowledge with all people to promote informed and open discourse.

5. Inclusivity: The Museum represents all Illinoisans and reflects Illinois’ diversity in everything it does.

6. Collaboration: The Museum encourages partnerships to foster achievement by sharing resources and responsibilities.

7. Excellence: The Museum strives to be outstanding in all it does by routinely evaluating all aspects of its performance.

During an age in which Illinois and its citizenry are continually confronted with change and the prospect of new challenges to sustaining their lives, it is essential that a definitive source of information on Illinois be continually expanded and sustained for the future. While other institutions are charged with preserving written records and publications, the Illinois State Museum has the responsibility of preserving and maintaining a tangible record of the state's land, life, people, and art, through the objects that it collects and studies, and the responsibility to engage society in discovery and stewardship of Illinois' natural and cultural heritage through exhibits, educational programs, and other educational offerings such as publications and online exhibitions and databases.  This process is guided by two principles:

• The Museum's programs—art, art history, cultural history, anthropology, natural history, and earth sciences—shall integrate across disciplines and fields of knowledge in order to offer holistic perspectives of natural and cultural expressions and the complex, systemic interactions within and between aspects of the natural and cultural world.
  
  
• The core activities of Museum are research, collecting, curating, exhibition, and education. The activities are interdependent and are linked by a progressive flow of information from research and collection to the dissemination of knowledge. The following principles guide the core activities:
  

The ISM mission is fulfilled through collecting, research, exhibits, publications, and interpretive programs that enhance educational experiences, aesthetic values, and in general, the quality of life.

The Illinois State Museum is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

The Illinois State Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.