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Bootheel Youth Museum Receives National Medal

Sara Neumann
/
Susan Davis International

The Bootheel Youth Museum in Malden was recently awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

The award is granted to museums and libraries across the nation for their outstanding services for individuals, families, and their communities.

Patsy Reublin is the museum’s Executive Director. She says their unique, hands-on exhibits and strong community support are the reasons behind the museum’s success.

“The people in our community have really gotten behind our mission to foster a thirst for knowledge and pursuit of science, and the great thing about being a part of the Bootheel Youth Museum is that we really are a part of our community. I think we’re more like a community center than necessarily a museum,” Reublin said.

Reublin says the Bootheel Youth Museum is a not-for-profit educational institution that offers over fifty hands-on exhibits such as the Island Mars Space Exploration and the Sewer Pipe Symphony.

“We are often asked by guests that come in out of town ‘how could something like this happen in such a small town in the middle of nowhere?’ And it’s because our community is one of a kind. They come in and they spend their Saturdays and their Sundays building exhibits and working with our guests. I don’t know that you find that in a lot of communities,” Reublin said.

The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries. 

The Bootheel Youth Museum was one of ten institutions to receive the medal and attend the honorary ceremony on November 5 at the White House.

Samantha Rinehart was a student reporter for KRCU from 2012-2013.