Chapter 5- "Treasures of home"

If you are not reading The Social Work of Museums here is some of what you missed:

In chapter five Silverman uses the term “home” to define two different things.  At first she uses it more literally as she develops five different ideas as to how museums can fulfill housing needs in the community (pg. 91). She lists them as promoting safety in homes, using museums as temporary shelters, using museums (primarily historical homes) as permanent housing, advocating for public housing and promoting green living (pg. 91).

Her points on promoting housing safety, advocating for public housing and promoting green living seem more plausible in the museum setting than her other two points which refer to actually using the museum itself as a shelter.  She notes that historically examples exist of museums providing housing, and she even provides a more current example of a family receiving a grant to help restore a historical house that the family would then live in and take care of (pg. 94). 

In my opinion, using the museum as a link to promote those organizations that have professionals who are trained in this area seems to be more beneficial than actually having the museum provide shelter.

Silverman then dives into using the term “home” more metaphorically to represent family ideals.  She explains how the museum can be seen as a place for spending "quality time", a place where communication happens between people and also a place for learning (pg. 96-100).  These ideas about relationships relate strongly to ideas that she has presented extensively throughout the book. Links can be drawn to current museum examples, that already focus their mission on this second idea of Silverman’s “home”.

Think About It:

Where do (or should) museums end and other service organizations like counseling, community housing, and other social services begin?   Are museums and staff prepared to take on all the roles that Silverman suggests in this chapter?