Hello ARLIS Museum Division members

 

As moderator of the Museum Division, I am continuing the established goal of my predecessor, and members of the Public Policy Committee (PPC), and moving forward with a white paper on the current state of art museum libraries.  The Museum Division and the PPC have developed discussions about the paper on Basecamp, a project management tool, and along with Patrick Tomlin and other members of the PPC we are working from our outline to get the ball rolling. But we need your help!

As you can see from the information under each bolded section below, we will be needing art museum stats, case studies, and even anecdotal commentary, not to mention that we would love to solicit additional authors!

Please review the outline and respond to me if you have any questions, comments, or would like to participate. Please note which section or statistic assistance you would like to contribute. I will be happy to send you an invite to Basecamp. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Thank you,

Catherine Petersen

Introduction: The current State of Art Museum Libraries in north AMERICA

·          The value of art libraries/librarians

·          At the core of an art museum’s educational mandate

·          AAM/AAMD accreditation requirements

·          Furthering cultural knowledge and understanding

·          Furthering research/scholarships in the arts

·          The changing art museum library

·          Strengthening collaborations for museum successes

·          Future opportunities for success

What’s Special or unique about an Art Museum Library?

LEAD, Patrick Tomlin, PPC

·          Mission of art museum libraries

·          Structure of art museums

1.     AAM/AAMD accreditation requirements

2.     Small, medium, and large institutions

·          Library at the core of an art museum’s educational mandate

·          Furthering cultural knowledge and understanding

·          Furthering research/scholarships in the arts

·          What’s different about an art museum library?

1.     Extra layer of bureaucracy (museum administration and board and library administration and board)

2.     Primarily serve curatorial staff, not the public

3.     Not the primary institution; other departments appear more directly related to museum (ie. Ed., curatorial, museum store, restaurant)

4.     Not in control of own funds/procedures

5.     Compare to academic libraries

6.     Compare to public libraries

The Changing Art Museum Library

 

·          Funding pressures

·          Competition with curatorial and education for funding

·          Digital and “on demand” competition

Strengthening collaborations for museum successes

·          Focus on collaboration and strengthen of relationships with curators, development, museum education, and museum administration

·          Internal museum collaborations (archives/books in gallery exhibitions, product design)

·          External collaborations (Universities, public libraries, other museum libraries)

Future opportunities for success
LEAD, Catherine Petersen, Museum Division

·          Increase awareness of the current state of art museum libraries (mostly mid-size, mostly art museum libraries)

·          Make collections more visible:  galleries, displays, programs, store product development

·          Increase fundraising for libraries/archives

·          Increase collaboration for digital efforts
(artlibraries.net talk at ARLIS 2014 annual conference)

·          Update MLIS courses to focus on new collection strategies, fundraising skills, and leadership training

CONCLUSION

·          The NMC Horizon Report: 2014 Library Edition
http://www.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-library

·          Towards the Future

There are basic stats available and we could use someone to take the lead in gathering those.  We would likewise appreciate someone to lead development of a basic survey of questions each outlined section lead might incur.

Catherine Petersen
Library Director
[log in to unmask]" alt="Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art">

600 Museum Way
Bentonville, AR 72712

479.418.5748 (direct)
479.418.5700 (main)
CrystalBridges.org

[log in to unmask]" alt="Follow us on Facebook"> [log in to unmask]" alt="Follow us on Twitter"> [log in to unmask]" alt="Follow us on Instagram"> [log in to unmask]" alt="Follow us on Pinterest">

 

Art & Books
Without a doubt I must read all the books I’ve read about. See the artworks hung on hooks, that I have only seen in books.
Lang Leav