Expires After: 5/7/2004 01:00
I agree with everything that Margaret writes. Here's my 2-cents: I've been
a
public library art librarian since 1975 (Cuyahoga County, San Francisco
Public, and now Berkeley Public) and from 1976(?) until a few years ago was
a
member of ARLIS/NA. I've attended conferences fairly regularly throughout
my
career. (almost always at my own expense, because public libraries usually
can't afford to pay) I've always felt a bit like an observer rather than a
participant at ARLIS conferences, but enjoyed meeting other public art
librarians, while keeping up with the latest on the academic front.
Recently,
due to budget cuts, the many interesting and dedicated public art librarians
that I've met at ARLIS conferences through the years have been transferred
to
jobs that are not specifically involved with art. The last few conferences
that I attended seemed to be less and less useful to me as a public
librarian.
I wasn't aware that the public library division had been disbanded, but I'm
not surprised to hear it given how few of us there are anymore, how little
financial support we're given, and, as Margaret writes, that public library
administrators don't seem to value subjects specialists as much anymore. I
really wish it were different, because the real victims in all this are the
people who use public libraries, and are not receiving the in-depth research
assistance they once were. Thanks for reading this.
Andrea Segall
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Andrea Segall
Berkeley Public Library Art & Music Section
2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley CA, 94704
(510) 981-6236
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fax: (510) 981-6219
>>> Margaret English 04/02/04 09:02AM >>>
Hello All.
I'm not a member of ARLIS/NA (yet) but I've belonged to my local chapter
and have been monitoring ARLIS-L for many years. I was a Fine Art
subject specialist in Canada's largest public library for 11 years, but
recently changed over to Academe. I have witnessed profound changes in
the recruitment and appreciation for subject specialist librarians in
large public libraries. Alas, they are not positive ones for our
profession, as they support the move toward librarians as
"generalists". I must say that the recent dissolution of the Public
Libraries Division is quite painful, as it comes from within and would
seem to support the unfortunate trend in library administration. That's
all.
See you in NYC,
Margaret English
Librarian
Department of Fine Art Library
University of Toronto
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__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
