A Look in to Art Librarianship
On April 1, two groups of about five St. Kate's MLIS students traded an hour of beautiful spring weather for a tour of the library at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the trade was well worth it!
Head Librarian Janice Lurie gave us an introduction to the library/archives and the purpose it serves for the museum as a whole. She gave us all very good advice on the need to stay proactive and to work collaboratively with institutional colleagues, while keeping the organization's overall vision and mission in mind.
We heard about the wide variety of patrons at the library from Assistant Librarian Jessica McIntyre. She wowed everyone with her ability to answer obscure questions from the public, from students, and from museum curators.
NHPRC (National Historical Publications and Records Commission) Project Archivist Stephanie Kays told us about the projects that she works on as part of a three year grant. She is working with museum staff on document management issues, and also has the daunting yet enjoyable task of bringing organization to the Institute's archival records (dating from 1883). These archives document the history of how art museums developed in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
All of the librarians pointed out interesting and beautiful items in the library and it seemed to me that attendees were all thinking, "You have really cool jobs!" We saw signature books (yes, books of signatures) in the reference collection, auction catalogs, and old letters that tell the story of the museum's beginnings.
Janice invited all of us to return to the library with questions about their work, or with regular reference questions. She also mentioned that the library will soon have its own affinity group within museum supporters (as the various art departments already do) - email the library for more information about this opportunity to support the library and the museum.
Many thanks to Janice and her staff for having us! They clearly have a wonderful time working at the MIA, and the Minnesota arts community is fortunate to have these librarians!
Head Librarian Janice Lurie gave us an introduction to the library/archives and the purpose it serves for the museum as a whole. She gave us all very good advice on the need to stay proactive and to work collaboratively with institutional colleagues, while keeping the organization's overall vision and mission in mind.
We heard about the wide variety of patrons at the library from Assistant Librarian Jessica McIntyre. She wowed everyone with her ability to answer obscure questions from the public, from students, and from museum curators.
NHPRC (National Historical Publications and Records Commission) Project Archivist Stephanie Kays told us about the projects that she works on as part of a three year grant. She is working with museum staff on document management issues, and also has the daunting yet enjoyable task of bringing organization to the Institute's archival records (dating from 1883). These archives document the history of how art museums developed in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
All of the librarians pointed out interesting and beautiful items in the library and it seemed to me that attendees were all thinking, "You have really cool jobs!" We saw signature books (yes, books of signatures) in the reference collection, auction catalogs, and old letters that tell the story of the museum's beginnings.
Janice invited all of us to return to the library with questions about their work, or with regular reference questions. She also mentioned that the library will soon have its own affinity group within museum supporters (as the various art departments already do) - email the library for more information about this opportunity to support the library and the museum.
Many thanks to Janice and her staff for having us! They clearly have a wonderful time working at the MIA, and the Minnesota arts community is fortunate to have these librarians!
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