The Whatcom Museum gets the accreditation its staff worked hard for

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Whatcom Museum joins a select group of the nation’s roughly 33,000 museums after earning re-accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.

Only 1,070, or 3%, of the nation’s museums are currently accredited.

Accreditation signifies credibility and excellence, and is the primary way museums demonstrate quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability.

Executive Director Patricia Leach says it has taken them years of hard work to reach this status, but says it is “an honor and a relief” to get it.

The museum was last re-accredited in 2003.