YCM Awarded Accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums
BILLINGS, MT (8/5/2025) – The Yellowstone County Museum (YCM) has achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded to the nation’s museums. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.
Alliance Accreditation brings national recognition to a museum for its commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for over fifty years, the Alliance’s museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation, and public accountability. It strengthens the museum profession by promoting practices that enable leaders to make informed decisions, allocate resources wisely, and remain financially and ethically accountable to provide the best possible service to the public.
“Achieving accreditation demonstrates to our community that the Yellowstone County Museum is following the highest of museum standards thus ensuring that our past will be preserved for current and future generations to see and learn from,” said YCM Executive Director Zach Garhart. “Accreditation would not have been possible without the astounding commitment of the Yellowstone County Commissioners and Museum board members, staff, and volunteers.
The YCM began the rigorous accreditation process in 2020. Over the course of nearly five years, the Museum built a first class collections storage facility, developed top-quality policies and procedures, participated in a collections assessment program, and hosted six expert peer reviewers between three unique site visits.
Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, roughly 1,100 are currently accredited. The Yellowstone County Museum is one of only eight museums accredited in Montana.
Accreditation is a very thorough but highly rewarding process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, and then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. The Alliance’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.
“Accreditation is a monumental achievement,” said Marilyn Jackson, AAM President & CEO. “The process demonstrates an institution’s commitment to best practice and is flexible enough to be accomplished by museums of any size.”
The Yellowstone County Museum is currently under construction. We are open to the public with regular hours (Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30am to 5:30pm), but will need to periodically close due to construction throughout the summer. All closures will be announced on the Museum website at least one week in advance. The construction project includes adding a new entrance, stairs, wheelchair lift to the lower level, and bathrooms. The current cabin entrance will become a display room.
In early 2026, be on the lookout for the Museum’s grand new construction reveal and national accreditation celebration!