Purposes • To acquire, curate, and exhibit richly representative natural history specimens, related objects, art and archival materials. • To steward and share the legacy collections of Franklin Fairbanks and the Museum’s historic building. • To offer programs about natural and physical sciences to a broad range of audiences. • To present thought provoking exhibits that heighten appreciation and understanding of the natural world. • To provide weather forecasting and interpretation to northern New England. • To facilitate communication about environmental issues amongst the residents of and visitors to Northern New England. • To convey through exhibits, programs and facility projects the challenges of climate change, and the role we can play in mitigating its causes and effects.

From the Fairbanks Museum's 2019-21 Strategic Plan: Education Programs Goal Deliver school programs that spark a passion for meteorology; astronomy; and earth, life and physical sciences Weather Goal Expand the reach and impact of the Museum through weather forecasting and interpretation Planetarium Goal Deliver immersive, fulldome experiences that inspire an appreciation for astronomy and other scientific disciplines Public Programs Goal Deliver public programs that foster engagement with the Fairbanks Museum and its mission Visitor Experience Goal Provide an outstanding experience for every visitor Exhibits Goal Provide exhibits that deepen public engagement in the Museum and its mission, and encourage return visitation Institutional Sustainability Goal Operate a financially sustainable institution supportive of the Museum’s mission Facilities Goal Provide excellent stewardship of the Museum’s buildings and grounds Collections Goal Preserve, enhance, interpret, and share the Museum's collections Interactive Science Annex Goal Expand the Museum’s impact through the construction of an Interactive Science Annex

The Fairbanks Museum is a non-profit natural history museum located in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The Museum opened in 1891 as a gift of Franklin Fairbanks, a businessman, naturalist and philanthropist, to the community. His donated collections remain northern New England’s most extensive natural history display, and the National Register-listed building is a splendid example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Its fabric and ambiance, inside and out, are intact. The Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium continues to faithfully uphold and expand upon Fairbank’s vision of a public museum with a strong educational component. The modern day mission of the Museum is to “inspire wonder, curiosity and responsibility for the natural world. ” The mission is accomplished through general visitation (+/- 30,000 year), school student visits (+/- 12,000 year), a preschool, a public planetarium and a well-respected weather center which broadcasts through Vermont Public Radio (Eye on the Sky). The Museum has an annual budget of approximately $1. 3 million with 16 full-time equivalent employees. The Museum is a 25,000 square foot, one-and-a-half story, U-shaped Richardsonian Romanesque style museum building constructed of reddish brown Longmeadow sandstone. The building has a remarkably high level of historical integrity of its location, setting, form, scale, and materials, as well as of its exterior and interior details, features, fixtures and finishes, all contributing to the distinctive character and significance of this landmark. Located near the middle of the St. Johnsbury Main Street National Register of Historic Places District, the imposing presence of the Fairbanks Museum indelibly punctuates the streetscape on the east side of Main Street. The Fairbanks Museum’s campus consists of one block in St. Johnsbury, Vermont containing the Museum building (above), as well as, three historic houses. The houses contain the Museum’s administrative functions (McGuire Center), Balch Nature Preschool, and the Collections Center. Adjacent to its primary holdings, the Museum also owns a . 22 acre lot that includes a parking lot and solar installation off Thaddeus Lane in St. Johnsbury. The Museum also owns solar panels in two offsite solar installations which total 73kW of solar capacity. The Fairbanks Museum has public visitation of about 30,000, plus 12,000 school student visits per year. The Museum receives appropriations from 14 surrounding towns, and is available admission-free for any resident of those towns. Its free public events include Victorian Holiday Open House, Colors of the Kingdom Festival, William Eddy Lecture Series, Halloween, and Franklin Fairbanks Award. Additionally, the Museum runs numerous programs, lectures, camps and a summer-long youth service learning program. The Museum operates a state-licensed, four-star preschool (Balch Nature Preschool) which participates in Vermont’s universal pre-k system.

From the Fairbanks Museum's 2019-21 Strategic Plan Education Programs • Make the Museum an important part of science education for local and regional schools, and homeschoolers • Increase student visits by 5% annually • Develop and sustain a center of excellence for STEM learning • Increase membership by 5% annually (with Planetarium, Public Programs, and Development) Weather • Provide high-quality weather forecasting via radio, print and online • Provide meteorological content and expertise to the Museum’s school and public programs Planetarium ? Make the Planetarium an essential part of a visit to the Fairbanks Museum for both public or for school programs ? Make full dome programming a core driver of visitation ? Increase planetarium visitation by 5% annually ? Increase membership by 5% annually (with School Programs, Public Programs, and Development) Public Programs • Create opportunities for return visits throughout the year • Offer programming that fosters interaction and expands the participants’ understanding of the natural world • Increase public program visitation by 5% annually • Increase membership by 5% annually (with Development, Planetarium, School Programs, and Visitor Services) Visitor Experience • Encourage return visits, multiple times per year • Provide each visitor with a consistently thoughtful and informative customer-oriented interaction as they enter the Museum • Ensure every visitor is provided information about the day’s events as well as up-coming events and programs • Provide interactions such that visitors generate consistently positive on-line reviews • Increase visitation by 5% annually (with Planetarium, Education and Public Programs) • Increase membership by 5% annually (with Development, Education and Public Programs) • Increase retail net revenue by 3% annually Exhibits • Balance stewardship of the Museum’s legacy exhibits by providing new permanent and/or temporary exhibits • Design exhibits that are responsive to community needs; foster interaction between the Museum and its visitors; and reflect relevant natural history themes • Annually update a non-trivial portion of the museum’s permanent exhibits annually • Increase visitation by 5% annually Institutional Sustainability • Implement a consistently balanced budget which is reflective of realistic expectations of the Museum’s activities and environment • Grow the endowment so that it supports at minimum 15% of the operating budget • Increase annual giving totals 5% annually • Endowment pledges exceeding $2 million by 2021 Planned giving commitments exceeding $1 million by 2021 Facilities • Undertake capital improvement projects to ensure the long-term preservation of the Museum’s buildings and grounds • Address the Museum’s accessibility issues

Organizational accomplishments include: • Eye on the Sky weather and climate information broadcast on Vermont Public Radio through a partnership begun in 1981 which reaches 230,000 listeners weekly; • The related Eye on the Night Sky, an astronomy broadcast and podcast on VPR; • Balch Nature School, a fully-licensed preschool program; • 70 different hour-long classes based on the Next Generation Science Standards for grades K-8th • The Soucy Family Exploration Station, a starting point for hands-on scientific exploration; • Franklin’s Guides, a summer service learning experience for youth aged 11-15 who volunteer at the Museum delivering science and nature programs to visitors; • Astronomy Camp, Biology Camp, Drone Camp, Tech Camp and Nature Discovery Camps for children in April, and June-August; • Acquisition of two adjacent buildings in 2015 and 2016 bringing the Museum’s property ownership to an entire block in St. Johnsbury; • Installation of a seasonal, native butterfly house in 2016; • Installation of 85kW of solar photovoltaic capacity at three different sites between 2015 and 2017; • Replacement of all Museum lighting (450 fixtures) with LEDs in 2015; • Installation of a middle and high school STEM Lab in 2018; • Guinness World Record holder for largest astronomy lesson in the world, 2018; and • Installation of a lift to make Vermont’s only public planetarium accessible to all visitors in 2019.