Harris County Public Library and Houston Children’s Museum Receive Nation’s Highest Honor | Form an ocean to another

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo celebrates as the Harris County Public Library and Houston Children’s Museum win the nation’s highest museum and library honor, the 2024 National Medal of Museum Service and libraries. This is the first time in its 30-year history that a museum and library from the same community have won this prestigious award in the same year.

“Harris County made history by becoming the first community to have both a museum and library to win this prestigious award in the same year,” Hidalgo said. “To anyone who has interacted with our libraries or visited the Children’s Museum, this will come as no surprise. Our libraries not only provide incredible programs for families of all backgrounds, but they recently stepped up to lend a helping hand by serving as cooling centers when people lost power during the storms a few weeks ago. The Children’s Museum provides wonderful, high-quality early childhood education programs for all children in Harris County. Thank you to both institutions for all you do.”

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awards the National Medal to 10 recipients each year to institutions that exemplify extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service. The National Medal is the highest national honor awarded to the country’s museums and libraries.

Harris County Public Library was nominated for the National Museum and Library Service Medal by MP Lizzie Fletcher and MP Sheila Jackson Lee. Among its many achievements, the library has been nominated for:

• Program to provide free laptops and hotspots to 70,000 residents without internet service

• Community outreach to low-income areas

• Partnering with the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department to provide library services to youth in the juvenile justice system

• The mobile librarians’ fleet of vehicles that provide personalized educational programs and services to the community.

Children’s Museum of Houston was nominated for the national medal by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Dr. Tricia Zucker of the UTHealth Children’s Learning Institute, Paul Martin of Arizona State University and Kristi Rangel of the Gulf Coast Workforce Board. The museum was nominated for its commitment to serving families facing socioeconomic disadvantages and/or language barriers, developing innovative strategies for early brain development, training children for STEM careers, and celebrating diversity. The Children’s Museum Houston welcomes 35% of its more than 700,000 visitors free of charge and offers all programming in English and Spanish.