In response to the recent announcement about the changing facilities status of the Indiana University Fine Arts Library, I would like to share my observations with members of ARLIS-L.  In the previous two weeks, I had heard about the significant gift to the IU Art Museum by the Eskenazi family in Indianapolis—a gift which also includes a considerable art collection.  This gift is intended to provide funds to renovate and enhance what is now the Eskenazi Art Museum and its galleries.  Since my initial planning of the current FAL in the late 60s, throughout the 1970s and the early 1980s, I always assumed that if the museum needed space, then the library would need to move.  

 

The FAL now occupies over 21,000 sq. ft. or about 20% of the museum building which does not really have external space for expansion; consequently, this change does make sense for the art museum.  Given that we occupied the building in 1981, we have enjoyed a long and complementary history in the museum building. I very much appreciate being informed that there are potential plans to have a designated fine arts collection space in our university libraries building—a welcome possibility at this time.  Thank you for your thoughtful responses to this announcemnt.  B.J. Irvine, Former Director, IU Fine Arts Library