What are Museums...are they essential?

Yesterday, in my Intro to Museums class we began to discuss, what museums were and what their purposes are.  At face value this seems to be a simple question.  Museums display artifacts and tell history that people can then come and see, but is that really the right answer?

Most museums are considered non-profits and so have to abide by certain laws and tax codes to get the benefit of not having to pay taxes.  According to the US Tax code museums serve an educational purpose that allows them to avoid taxes.  Just because the government says museums must hold this role, does it mean that museums are limited to that function, should or should not that be the main function of museums?

Many of us in the museum community say that museums are essential to a community, and that the education purpose that they hold is what drives their purpose.  What happens if a museum is not the most essential part of a community though?  Public health, feeding the poor, school education, and so much more might come across and in fact be much more vital to the surrounding community.  How does a museum stay relevant and in business in this type of environment?  One must remember that museums are in fact businesses and that they still have a bottom line to meet at the end of the year.  

Can museums achieve success and relevancy by serving other functions in the community.  In class we discussed other things a museum can do to not only make money but also stay important to the community.  For instance, in a Korean immigrant area of New York City, a house museum devoted to Quakers is being established.  How is this relevant at all to the community it is being places in?  How can it make itself relevant and bring in the funding from its very different community to stay open?  My suggestion was to offer an ESL program.  This way a museum is still acting as an educational institution and is also finding new ways to bring people into it, different grants would also be available to the museum.  

Other suggestions included hosting weekly dinners for low-income families.  Not only would this get people into the museum, but it would also be an opportunity to serve traditional quaker food, serve them in a traditional manner, or at least discuss how the Quakers did things.  The bottom line is that in this economy the museum needs to find new ways to stay sustainable and relevant in the community around it, and maybe some good, hard  thinking outside the box is necessary.  

Can extra, new services also provide additional support and marketing opportunities for a museum?