Musuems that mutate into Fisher Price activity centres in a desperate bid for 'relevance' depress me. There is nothing to be ashamed of in scholarship; the acquisition of knowledge is something to be celebrated, not dismissed as dry and dusty.
Personally I couldn't give a flying fart if the EFDSS is seen as 'too stuck in the tradition' and not connected to the singer songwriters and everything else that gets lumped uncomfortably under the umbrella of 'folk'. It's doing what it does pretty well thank you.
Its 'mission statement' (shite term, but, what the heck), reads that it aims to:

• maintain itself as a centre of excellence for the study, practice and dissemination of traditional English folk song, dance and music;
• provide national and local outreach services that enable and increase access;
• celebrate diversity and promote equality
It seems to me that it's doing that job pretty well, and that it has discovered a new lease of life with people like Shirley Collins and Eliza actively involved. It's certainly relevant to me even if it doesn't tick your plastic avalon, instant-tradition, folk-lite boxes, Ms 'Cornish'.
And what it certainly doesn't need is to become some fluffy, vague, "hugely interactive, hands on, all encompassing, all welcoming, vibranct vibrance". I seem to remember they tried that dumbed-down, one-size-fits-all approach with the Millennium Dome, and we all remember what a huge success that was.