LHRT (Library History Round Table)

The National Medal is the nation's highest honor given to museums and libraries that demonstrate excellence in service to their communities. Since 1994, the award has honored 212 institutions that exemplified extraordinary and innovative approaches to public service. Over the past 30 years, the award has celebrated institutions that are making a difference for individuals, families, and communities.

2024

• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (Tucson, AZ)
• Children's Museum Houston (Houston, TX)
• DC Public Library (Washington, DC)
• Discovery Museum (Acton, MA)
• Griswold Memorial Library (Colrain, MA)
• Harris County Public Library (Houston, TX)
• Kent District Library (Comstock Park, MI)
• Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (Pittsburgh, PA)
• The Copper Queen Library (Bisbee, AZ)
• The Louis Armstrong House Museum (Queens, NY)

2023

• Kuskokwim Consortium Library (Bethel, AK)
• LA County Library (Los Angeles, CA)
• Long Branch Free Public Library (Long Branch, NJ)
• Toledo Lucas County Public Library (Toledo, OH)
• Center of Science and Industry (COSI) (Columbus, OH)
• Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum (Buffalo, WY)
• Museum of Discovery and Science (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
• Riverside Art Museum (Riverside, CA)

2022

• The Amistad Research Center (New Orleans, LA)
• St. Louis County Library (St. Louis, MO)
• Wilmington Institute Free Library (Wilmington, DE)
• Asheville Art Museum (Asheville, NC)
• Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (Seattle, WA)
• Oakland Museum of California (Oakland, CA)

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2021

• Cabell County Public Library (Huntington, WV)
• Highwood Public Library (Highwood, IL)
• Memphis Public Libraries (Memphis, TN)
• High Desert Museum (Bend, OR)
• Mississippi Children's Museum (Jackson, MS)
• Museo de Arte de Ponce (Ponce, PR)

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2019

• Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Library, Sequim, WA
• Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• New Haven Free Public Library, New Haven, CT
• Gulfport Public Library, Gulfport, FL
• Meridian District Library, Meridian, ID
• Barona Cultural Center and Museum, Lakeside, CA
• Children's Museum, San Diego, CA
• Historical Society of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
• Lorraine Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN
• South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, SC

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2018

• Pueblo Library District, Pueblo, CO
• Orange County Library System, Orlando, FL
• Rochester Public Library, Rochester, MN
• Reading Public Library, Reading, PA
• Georgetown Public Library, Georgetown, TX
• Children's Museum of Denver, Denver, CO
• El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX
• Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
• Outagamie County Historical Society, Appleton, WI
• Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Eugene, OR

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2017

• Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC
• Waterville Public Library, Waterville, ME
• Cedar Rapids Public Library, Cedar Rapids, IA
• University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis, MN
• Long Beach Public Library, Long Beach, CA
• Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO
• Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, Oakland, CA
• Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, Skokie, IL
• Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
• Alaska State Museum, Juneau, AK

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2016

• Santa Ana Public Library, Santa Ana, CA
• Otis Library, Norwich, CT
• North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
• Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY
• Madison Public Library, Madison, WI
• Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL
• Columbia Art Association, Columbia, SC
• Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, Gulfport, MS
• Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs National, AR
• Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum, Exeter, RI

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2015

• Craig Public Library, Craig, AK
• Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA
• Cecil County Public Library, Elkton, MD
• Embudo Valley Library and Community Center, Dixon, NM
• The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY
• Amazement Square, Lynchburg, VA
• Louisiana Children's Museum, New Orleans, LA
• Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ
• New York Hall of Science, Corona, NY
• Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, CA

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2014

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• Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL
• Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, MO
• Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA
• Ocatavia Fellin Public Library, Gallup, NM
• Las Vegas Clark County Library District, Las Vegas, NV
• Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK
• Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, CT
• North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC
• Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
• Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Brooklyn, NY

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2013

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• Waukegan Public Library, Waukegan, IL
• Pierce County Library System, Tacoma, WA
• Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
• Marshalltown Public Library, Marshalltown, IA
• Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Cincinnati, OH
• Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
• Boston Children's Museum, Boston, MA
• Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale, MS
• Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana, CA
• National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, IA

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2012

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• Naturita Community Library, Naturita, CO
• Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville, NC
• Shaler North Hills Library, Glenshaw, PA
• Park View High School Library Media Center, Sterling, VA
• Contra Costa County Library, Pleasant Hill, CA
• Bootheel Youth Museum, Malden, MO
• Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL
• Long Island Children's Museum, Garden City, NY
• Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
• Pacific Science Center, Seattle, Wash., Seattle, WA

2011

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• San Jose Public Library, San Jose , CA
• Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, OH
• Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, , MN
• Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
• Weippe Public Library & Discovery Center, Weippe, ID
• Madison Children's Museum, Madison, WI
• Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, VA
• EdVenture, Inc., Columbia, SC
• Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
• Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

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2010

• Nashville Public Library, Nashville, TN
• Patchogue-Medford Library, Patchogue, NY
• West Bloomfield Township Public Library, West Bloomfield, MI
• Rangeview Library District, Thornton, CO
• Peter White Public Library, Marquette, MI
• Conner Prairie Interactive History Park, Fishers, IN
• Explora, Albuquerque, NM
• Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA
• Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
• New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY

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2009

• Gail Borden Public Library District, Elgin, IL
• Stark County District Library, Canton, OH
• Braille Institute of America, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
• Colonel IL James N. Pritzker Library of the Citizen Soldier, Chicago, IL
• Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
• Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
• Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, OH
• Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
• Museum of Science and Industry, Tampa, Tampa, FL
• Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN

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2008

• Jane Stern Dorado Community Library, Dorado, PR
• Skokie Public Library, Skokie, IL
• Skidompha Library, Damariscotta, ME
• Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, FL
• Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, MO
• Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY
• Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA
• General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, Crawfordsville, IN
• Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York, NY
• Norton Gallery and School of Art, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL

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2007

• Kim Yerton Memorial Library, Hoopa, CA
• Ocean County Library, Toms River, NJ
• Memphis Public Library and Information Center, Memphis, TN
• Georgetown County Library, Georgetown, SC
• Newberry Library, Chicago, IL
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL
• Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, IL
• National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
• Vermont Historical Society, Barre, VT
• Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, OR

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2006

• San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio, TX
• Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, NC
• Frankfort Community Public Library, Frankfort, IN
• Lincoln Children's Zoo, Lincoln, NE
• John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, IL
• Artrain USA, Ann Arbor, MI

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2005

• Saint Paul Public Library, St. Paul, MN
• Mathews Memorial Library, Mathews, VA
• Johnson County Library, Shawnee Mission, KS
• COSI Toledo, Toledo, OH
• Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC
• Pratt Museum, Homer, AK

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2004

• Flint Public Library, Flint, MI
• Mayaguez Children's Library, Inc., Mayaguez, PR
• University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Libraries, San Antonio, TX
• Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL
• Western Folklife Center, Inc., Elko, NV
• Zoological Society of San Diego, San Diego, CA

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2003

• Pocahontas County Free Library, Marlinton, WV
• Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
• Bozeman Public Library, Bozeman, MT
• Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh, PA
• San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX
• USS Constitution Museum Foundation, Charlestown, MA

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2002

• Boundary County District Library, Bonners Ferry, ID
• Wildlife Conservation Society/Bronx Zoo, Bronx, NY
• Hartford Public Library, Hartford, CT
• Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, PA
• Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA
• Southwest Georgia Regional Public Library System, Bainbridge, GA

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2001

• The Alaska Resources Library and Information Service, Anchorage, AK
• The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, San Jose, CA
• The Hancock County Library System, Bay St. Louis, MS
• The Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium, Miami, FL
• The New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
• The Providence Public Library, Providence, RI

2000

• B.B. Comer Memorial Library, Sylacauga, AL
• Queens Borough Public Library, Queens, NY
• The Simon Wiesenthal Center Library and Archives, Los Angeles, CA
• Urie Elementary School Library, Lyman, Wyoming