An eagle-eyed former art museum librarian pointed out a break in the original Google doc link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xK_Gw7ZL3OFFnSnVzZ3iKiKU_Z0zO-RO4Cydn_9eZrI

 

Now you may go forth and report depressing art museum library news! Apologies for the confusion.

~Anne

 

 

Hello ARLIS/NA,

 

A group of MLD/PPC colleagues has convened to complete a brief white paper on the Current State of Art Museum Libraries (first started in 2014). I recently sent a short questionnaire to the Museum Libraries Division listserv for input, but would like to open it up to the larger group of librarians, as many of you may have feedback from previous museum library experiences.

 

In thinking about current trends in our narrow slice of the field, we would like more concrete examples of issues being faced at our fellow institutions.  If your museum library has experienced any of the following changes, could you let us know via this brief set of questions (also listed below):

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MLD_state

·                 Have you had to narrow focus to just your own institution’s curators (cut public hours, programming, services or staff?)

·                 Have direct donations to your library resulted in equivalent reductions in funding of the library from the overall museum budget?

·                 Have contractors or consultants taken the place of permanent, professional library staff?

·                 Have you been encouraged to shift to “purchase on demand” or increased ILL rather than purchasing plans or traditional collection development?

·                 Have your in-house conservation needs had to focus on rare/valuable items and less preventative care of general collections?

 

And secondly, this white paper was resurrected after the changes faced by the Barnes, Indiana, and other places. We’d like to know we have a comprehensive list of restructures, lay-offs or closures since the 2008 financial crisis, and also have a few case studies to discuss in detail. Would you take a look at the Google doc list below, and add any Museum Libraries that you know of that experienced similar issues (adding anonymously is just fine!)  If you worked at one of these places and would be willing to talk about it, please email us separately.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xK_Gw7ZL3OFFnSnVzZ3iKiKU_Z0zO-RO4Cydn_9eZrI/edit?usp=sharing

 

If you have any questions, please just let one of us know. I will close this survey at the end of next week, though if feedback strikes you later, we are happy to have it at any time.

Thank you very much to those of you who have already responded!

 

Shaina Buckles (Dali Museum)

Alison Huftalen (Toledo Museum of Art)

Nicole Lovejack (Dayton Art Institute)

Mary Wasserman (Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Anne Evenhaugen (Smithsonian AA/PG Library)

 

Anne Evenhaugen

Librarian, Head

Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery Library

202.633.8227

[log in to unmask] 

http://library.si.edu/libraries/aapg

 

[log in to unmask]" alt="SLdots">

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~