Dear ARLIS/NA Colleagues:

In the Q & A part of the excellent recent session in Minneapolis called "Paving the Way for an Uncertain Future," which was a discussion by art librarians who also teach art librarianship, I volunteered that the book co-published by ARLIS/NA and Scarecrow Press, Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship, which focuses on the practice of art librarianship specifically in art museums and has essays written by 44 art museum librarians and profiles of 15 art museum libraries, has been used since it was published in 2007 (and revised in 2008) as a text for general art librarianship courses in lieu of any recent book on art librarianship in general. 

My statement (i.e., that there were no recent books available on art librarianship in general) was challenged by several other people in the audience, who pointed to last year's publication by Facet Publishing of The Handbook of Art and Design Librarianship, edited by Amanda Gluibizzi and Paul Glassman and includes essays by 28 academic and art and design school librarians and 1 public art and music librarian and profiles of 17 academic art libraries and art and design school libraries.  When I got home from the conference I pulled out my copy of The Handbook, which I had purchased last year, but had not yet studied thoroughly due to some other projects in the fire at that time. 

Although neither of these publications has yet been reviewed by ARLIS (and this is not intended as a review), I want to point out the availability of both of these books, which together cover the broadest range of art libraries, and include both inspiring and practical essays based on scholarship as well as the personal experience of art librarians, many of whom are ARLIS/NA members.

Although both books include essays on administration, space planning, cataloging, and digitization, among many other topics, there is a strong and broad emphasis in The Handbook of Art and Design Librarianship on issues related to working with students and faculty and, because of that, The Handbook also includes a good deal of material on the use of digital images and on online art historical research, both topics included in Art Museum Libraries, but from the perspective of working with curators, educators, and scholars in a museum setting.  The Handbook does not include material specifically on art museum libraries.

The upshot, I believe, is that students in art librarianship courses need to be exposed to both publications, and ARLIS members have reason to celebrate that so many of their peers have contributed to these texts that, taken together, report on a field that still thrives in spite of body blows suffered by libraries of all kinds during the past few years.  Certainly teachers of art librarianship now have substantial published resources--and proof of the ongoing viability of art librarianship as a profession to share with their students.

Best wishes,

Joan M. Benedetti