The Social Work of Museums offers exactly what the title implies: a comprehensive survey of museums as a social work context. Lois Silverman, who is trained as both a social worker and museum scholar, undertook this work because, “it is long past time for museums to survey, organize, and integrate systematically from a theoretically grounded social work perspective the growing body of museum knowledge and practice currently scattered around the globe” (39). The result is no dry encyclopedia but a sympathetic call to action. Silverman artfully weaves together a number of seemingly disparate threads: international case studies of practice, including all museum types; museum history since the Great Library of Alexandria; and the theory and tenets of social work. The resulting tapestry is a reader-friendly introduction to social work principles for museum professionals (the primary audience addressed), which is simultaneously an introduction to museum studies for social workers. More generally, it may be of interest to anyone in the growing field of healthcare and the arts. The book will be a significant resource for academics interested in social dimensions of the museum, both as a reference and as a text for teaching museum studies courses on a number of related topics. The writing style and argumentation offer an excellent model for students in this interdisciplinary field to emulate.

Although the subject has had little prior attention, museum educators, audience researchers, and museologists will not be much surprised by the pairing of social work and museum programming. It is not unusual to hear testimonials that people doing public service in either field were drawn to the work as a “calling.” Encouraging more critical reflective practice, Silverman asks what tenets define the respective professions and how might social work theory help inform the trend in museums toward greater social responsibility and visitor-centeredness?

For those yet to be convinced museums should be instruments of social service, or who are new to the field, chapter 1 gives a good thumbnail history of museums and establishes that public museums have been interested in serving a variety of individual and group needs for a long time. For instance, on page 23, Silverman asserts the two fields of practice are not just similar but are in fact already symbiotic: “It is from the field of social work that museums have, intentionally and unintentionally, garnered both essential approaches and practical guidance to inform many of their social service efforts to date,” and such efforts are on the rise. This growing emphasis within museum policy and practice makes the intentional application of social work theory all the more significant and useful. Having defined museums for the purpose of the argument, the rest of the book focuses on social work and the ways in which museums do, and might, offer similar services.

Chapter 2 summarizes some history and theory of social work as a profession and begins to link associated perspectives to those found in museum thought. Eight social work concepts are identified as particularly relevant, and their definitions round out the chapter. Loosely, these are: the planned change process; client-centered relationships; people are in environments / relationship systems; they have relationship needs; some are at risk / have altered needs; some need intervention; human rights and social justice inform practice; and culture informs relationships (30).

Chapters 3 through 6 articulate the above eight concepts, using references to recent museum programs to illustrate how each has been applied to a given type of visitor, as defined by social work client types. Chapter 3 explores needs of the individual and ways those needs may be served by museums. Similarly describing how museums may serve each of the needs, chapter 4 discusses the needs of “close pairs,” and chapter 5 looks at the needs of family groups. Both of these visitor types are defined inclusively, and in her selection and discussion of cases Silverman has taken care to avoid normative assumptions about such visitors. Chapter 6 discusses other sorts of groups, ranging in size and purpose. In chapter 7, Silverman reiterates the need for the synthesis she offers, summarizes the various ways museums are engaging in social work, and suggests general ways museums can leverage their existing resources and collaborate with others to further engage in social work-inspired social service.

The range of recent programs cited is impressive. The number of examples is dizzying: 83 different interventions (as Silverman reports on page 144, and I thank her for not making me count them)! Certainly, the volume of interventions cited makes her point emphatic, but they are also interesting and inspiring examples of museum programs serving human needs in innovative ways. Even better, these examples are from institutions found around the world, not just the United States, and not just Anglophone countries. At the same time, by documenting a legacy of social work in museum practice over the past two centuries, she informs the reader that the perspectival shift explored in the book has deep roots and is not radically new.

Because the scope of this work is so broad (especially for a narrative of 155 pages), as I read, I often found myself wanting more details of the exciting programs cited. I soon decided, however, that this was a clever strength. Keeping the discussion at the meta-level versus case level enables readers to maintain focus on the book’s overall argument and avoid details that could quickly become a distracting litany. This narrative approach creates a tension that is a stimulus to read on, to reflect, to pause and research a related interest. One can easily find more information online on almost any of the interventions. In fact, reading chapter 3 over lunch in Portland I became curious about the new Mercy Corps Action Center mentioned (63), looked it up on my phone, found I was just a mile away, and went right over. Had Silverman given a lengthy description I would have spent the afternoon quite differently. I appreciate having been provoked. Specific details of the interventions and mapping relevance onto one’s institution are left for the active reader to contribute to the process. What Silverman has documented is a movement.

Evident across the chapters is a strong concern for ethical professional practice (rather than technique), rooted in a social work perspective, and which resonates with much of the museological discourse of recent decades. One of the few specific recommendations offered is Silverman’s call to expand the International Council of Museums Code of Ethics from its current collections focus to include more on dealing with the needs of people (37). Among the book’s many strengths is Silverman’s resistance to the demand of practice-oriented publications to be prescriptive. She does assert the need for more evaluation efforts to support claims of program effectiveness. She suggests some “ripe area(s) for further development” (105) without offering cookie-cutter projects that may be best practice in one context, but result in anything but best practice for another setting. Yet, the book is instrumental in intention, as it compels reflective practice by the museum worker reading for advice, thereby provoking a more meaningful application of the theory introduced. To that end, some further discussion of a few of the interventions listed, identifying typical challenges or failures, could have been useful. The museum application of the “planned change process” (a social work model for supporting client empowerment) could also use more elaboration. Such details, and the identification of other needs or institutional barriers to engaging social work in museums, would also keep the casual reader from forming the impression that such programs are already ubiquitous, and their development is uncomplicated.

The Social Work of Museums challenges museum professionals to situate the serving of human needs more centrally within museum theory and practice. It ably counters any cynical dismissal of interest in visitors as a recent or local phenomenon, a dumbing down of museum missions, or a cash grab by an obsolete institution. This is a thought-provoking, inspiring book that many are sure to find is a useful tool for professional development, organizational change, teaching, research, and planning.