Читать книгу Museum Practice - Группа авторов - Страница 40

The way that NML’s mission, values, and vision are expressed is always a work in progress, even though these things do not change in essence, whatever the external environment might throw up. There is always external change, so there is always more to do within the museum. No museum can afford to stand still. Political, social, economic, technological, and environmental changes mean the museum must continually rethink what it is doing and how it does it. But the mission, values, and vision will remain constant.

Recent data indicates NML’s success in pursuing our social justice agenda. The audience continues to grow and become more diverse (“Liverpool’s Museums and Galleries Celebrate a Rise in Visitor Numbers” 2013). In 2010/2011 the number of visits made to NML museums by adults from NS-NSC groups 5–8 (i.e., those from lower-income groups) exceeded that of any other DCMS-funded museum, and was far greater than the numbers recorded for the British Museum, Tate Gallery, and Victoria and Albert Museum combined (Changing Lives 2012, 21).

This kind of achievement results from a determined adherence to our mission and values, added to the ability to anticipate and respond to external change. I have learned that clarity about mission and values must accompanied by: the courage to challenge the status quo; adapting to local circumstances and avoiding generic solutions to problems; motivating staff as well as outside stakeholders; and a determination not to be bland and procedural in this crucially important area of our work.

NML now has less money to spend than for the past few years and has lost staff, and it is difficult to plan for the future when there is something of a political policy vacuum nationally where culture is concerned. Museum professionals need to be very aware of these things or we shall lose our way. Nonetheless, mission, values, and vision provide a reference point and an anchor for a museum, even in the most troubled of times.