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Cheryl Williams, Vice President, Education, CPB; Mary Chute, Deputy Director, IMLS; Marsha Semmel, Director of Strategic Partnerships, IMLS; and Kathleen Cox, President and CEO, CPB.

WASHINGTON, DC - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) today jointly announced the creation of a broad initiative to spark collaboration among local public broadcasters, museums and libraries, harnessing community educational resources in new and more meaningful ways.

Partnership for a Nation of Learners, a multi-year, $3 million initiative, will provide resources to bring together libraries, public broadcasters, and museums to leverage community assets and create new pathways to learning, discovery, and exploration. The initiative will offer competitive grants to support existing collaborations and to create new ones, encourage professional development, and conduct project evaluations to measure effectiveness. Grant application guidelines and more information about the initiative will be available on October 31, 2004, at http://www.cpb.org/partners/.

IMLS, a federal agency supporting museums and libraries nationwide, and CPB, a private non-profit corporation that allocates the federal investment in public broadcasting, bring unique grant-making roles and responsibilities to the initiative. Since 1999, IMLS and CPB have engaged hundreds of library, museum, and public broadcasting leaders in a series of discussions about their common pursuits. These institutions care deeply about community issues and aspire to deliver educational content and service that illuminate and inform audiences of all ages.

"Changing technology and a proliferation of information resources have helped to stimulate a keen appetite for the type of trusted, authentic, and high quality learning experiences offered by libraries, museums and public broadcasting," said IMLS Director, Dr. Robert Martin. "The effectiveness of community-based collaborations creates a compelling case to support partnerships that make the most of existing resources, assets, and experiences."

"Public broadcasting stations, like libraries and museums, are deeply committed local institutions with a great wealth of educational resources," said CPB President and CEO, Kathleen Cox. "By working together, we can do more for more people. This is a great opportunity to create an unprecedented level of public service for the new media age."

CPB, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, develops educational public radio, television and online services for the American people. The Corporation is the industry's largest single source of funds for national public television and radio program development and production. CPB, a grant making organization, also funds more than 1,000 public radio and television stations. For more information, visit www.cpb.org.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. To learn more about the Institute, please log on to http://www.imls.gov