The New Art Museum Library

The New Art Museum Library addresses the issues facing today’s art museum libraries through a series of scholarly essays written by top librarians in the field. In 2007, the publication, Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship, edited by Joan Benedetti, was the first to solely focus on the field of art museum librarianship. In the decade since then, many changes have occurred in the field–both technological and ideological–prompting the need for a follow-up publication. In addition to representing current thinking and practice, this new publication also addresses the need to clearly articulate and define the art museum library?s value within its institution. It documents the broad changes in the environment that art museum libraries now function within and to celebrate the many innovative initiatives that are flourishing in this new landscape.
Librarians working in art museum face unique challenges as museums redefine what object-based, visitor-centric learning looks like in the 21st century. These unique c