This volume documents the growing trend for cities and towns throughout America to use museums and libraries as vehicles for economic development. Museums of all types and sizes, and libraries from main street behemoths to neighborhood branches, are being used to stimulate inner-city revitalization as well as neighborhood renewal programs. These public amenities draw citizens, tourists and new development to a city's venues, providing a public place for people to focus and gather. In short, the small public investment paid for these cultural centers is much less than the dollars returned to taxpayers from tourism and economic development. This collection of essays presents case studies from Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Charleston, Christchurch, Cincinnati, Denver, Des Moines, Hartford, Germantown, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Lanark, Little Rock, Memphis, Minneapolis, Miramar, Pekin, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland and more.