Art Libraries Society of North America


The Art Libraries Society of North America was founded in 1972. It is an organization made up of approximately 1,000 art librarians, library students and visual resource professionals.

Activities

ARLIS/NA organises activities such as:
Before ARLIS/NA, art librarians organized under an American Library Association Round Table. However, ALA support was limited. Meetings were only held biannually, attendance was minimal, and professional progress slow. During the post-war years the world had opened up, and through the influence of popular magazines like Time and Life, Americans were exposed to a range of cultures. According to Wolfgang Freitag, “Hundreds of new museums and libraries were built every year…there was an explosion of publications in the traditional formats on all subjects.” All of these developments led to the very real need for art librarians to organize.
By the late 1960s, against ALA's wishes, a separate, short-lived art libraries group was created in conjunction with an existing museum sub-section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of ALA. This proved to be temporary, too, as support was again limited. According to William J. Dane, "We didn't like being called a sub-section. We didn't need to depend on ALA or ACRL. There were enough of us who said, 'The hell with you.' Once the idea of independence got going, it was irreversible." ARLIS/NA was founded in 1972 by art librarians attending the American Library Association annual conference in Chicago and was the brainchild of Judith Hoffberg, who had been inspired by attending meetings of ARLIS/UK in London. The informal annual meetings of art librarians with College Art Association furthered the initiative to organize. According to Wolfgang Freitag, “The Association of College and Research Libraries was but one of several library organizations in which art librarians were enrolled at that time.”
By 1982 a major section of ARLIS/NA had broken off to form its own group, Visual Resources Association. The mission of the VRA is focused on media and image management, as well as progressing research and education in those areas. Wolfgang Freitag said "The growth of the two organizations has strengthened the profession as a whole so that it is stronger today than we could have imagined thirty and twenty years ago. It is a consolation that this happened even though, or perhaps because, the two main branches of what to my mind is still an indivisible profession gained their strength by following different paths and by marching to different drummers."
The ARLIS/NA membership has, from its beginnings, included librarians, archivists, visual resource professionals, artists, curators, educators, publishers, as well as students and others interested in visual arts information. They work in many different art and architecture venues, large and small, throughout North America: art museums, colleges and universities, art and design schools, public libraries, and corporate offices. Annual conferences and publications, as well as listserv threads feature discussions, presentations, workshops, and other opportunities for specialized professional development interests, such as cataloging, public services, archives, and acquisitions as well as technological trends and social issues of interest to the membership as a whole. Virtual sessions are common, especially since travel was limited during the 2020 Covid-19 global pandemic. For the first time in 48 years, the annual conference, scheduled to meet in 2020 in St. Louis, was cancelled; however some virtual programs, originally planned for St. Louis, were produced instead.

Chapters

ARLIS/NA is a national organization with regional affiliated , including ARLIS/NA Mountain West, ARLIS/NA New England, ARLIS/NA Northwest, ARLIS/NA Southern California, ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico, ARLIS/NA New York, ARLIS/NA Ontario, and others.

Affiliates

ARLIS/NA has relationships with many across the arts, librarianship, and visual resources management, including the American Library Association, ARLIS/United Kingdom and Ireland, the College Art Association, and REDARTE/RJ.

Organizational structure

The ARLIS/NA Executive Board is composed of a president, vice-president/president-elect and past president, part of a continuous three-year term; and a secretary, treasurer, chapters liaison, Canadian liaison, advancement liaison, education liaison, and an editorial director, all of whom serve two-year terms.

Past presidents

1973-1979

In alignment with the organization’s mission to foster excellence in art and design librarianship and image management, ARLIS/NA hosts a yearly conference for members to meet in person, share ideas and network.
ARLIS/NA offers travel awards to students and industry professionals to their annual conferences.

Distinguished Service Award

One of the most esteemed honors is the Distinguished Service Award which is given to an individual of any country whose exemplary service in art librarianship, visual resources curatorship, or a related field, has made an outstanding national or international contribution to art information.

The George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award

Since its foundation in 1974, ARLIS/NA has bestowed The George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award annually. This honor recognizes excellence of content and production in North American art publications. Initially called the Art Publishing Award, it was renamed in 1980 to honor George Wittenborn, the influential New York art book dealer and publisher. The award is presented annually for outstanding publications in the visual arts and architecture which combine the highest standards of scholarship, design, and production.

Outreach/communications

ARLIS-L is the society's listserv which functions as a forum for sharing information and discussing issues facing art librarians, library students and visual resource professionals. The listserv is also a resource for job listings. ARLIS-L is a place for society members to distribute information about ARLIS/NA activities at conferences, workshops and meetings, announcements of awards and honors, news regarding society members and information on new print and electronic publications. ARLIS-L is an open discussion list and anyone may subscribe.

Publications

''Art Documentation''

Art Documentation is the official journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America and is published twice yearly by the University of Chicago Press. includes articles and information relevant to art librarianship and visual resources curatorship. The publication includes practical information for the ARLIS/NA community such as committee, conference, meeting, chapter and member updates.

Occasional papers

Manuscripts for purchase on art information issues with such topics on staffing standards and core competencies.

Online publications

Resources are available for download on the ARLIS/NA website.

Quotations