Culture and libraries share a unique relationship. Libraries have offered all people an opportunity to share and learn without charge. In turn, culture helps shape libraries into the roles they play within their communities. While libraries specifically centered on cultural outlets face different issues than those more mainstream, they also share the same evolution into a more technological era. Reading through the Art Libraries Journal brings to light these similarities and differences and offers insight into a unique branch of the library family.
ALJ
The Art Libraries Journal (ALJ) has been published quarterly since 1976. According to the Art Libraries Society website, the ALJ is “the main international forum of the art library profession worldwide, with contributions from key specialists in art librarianship and visual resources, including librarians, archivists, collection managers, artists, curators, conservators and art historians.” Unfortunately, full text articles are not available through online databases until 2008.
A survey of abstracts from 1977, shows that libraries then were dealing with the same issues experienced today. Preservation and collections are two big reoccurring issues that show up throughout the decades of the ALJ. Saving materials for the future, yet dealing with where to house such large collections that include more than just books, is a catch-22. Video recordings, photographs, cassette tapes, audio recordings – many of the same types of things found in modern collections, only in bulkier, now obsolete forms – had to be housed safely before digitization existed.
Space was a serious issue, as items had to be stored in certain ways and at specific temperature points. This caused an issue with accessibility. Proper storage for preservation, rapidly growing collections, and patron usage all seemed to be working against each other. This is very similar to the issues libraries today still face, which is why online resources have become so popular.
One interesting thing to note in the abstract to a 1977 article by Karl H. Bolay, is the idea of lending artwork the way books are usually loaned. Bolay wrote, “Access to original works of art is a human right which cannot be adequately provided for by art galleries. Loan collections of original works of art should be thought of as a logical extension of the lending, by libraries, of books and media.
In Sweden over sixty libraries include collections of this kind” (p. 26). What makes this so intriguing, is the fact that 2018 saw many headlines in other journals about how the trend is really taking off (Boyd, Sisto, Wolf). However, not only is the act of lending art a hot topic, but so is equity and cultural literacy, both of which Bolay hits upon.
Moving forward to 2008, there is a continued concern with preservation, particularly the conservation of indigenous peoples and minorities around the globe (ALJ Vol. 33, Issue 2). ALJ devotes an entire issue to this subject and the use of digital archives to save historical and cultural heritage around the globe. Libraries are cultural warehouses in keeping information on ways of life that are dying out in the real world alive for future learners.
That same year, Daniel Payne wrote an interesting article on how art can play a major role in information literacy. In “Exhibiting information literacy: site-specific art and design interventions at the Ontario College of Art & Design,” he discusses how artists use the Dorothy H. Hoover Library as an exhibition site. Though not given complete free reign (they cannot inhibit accessibility, for instance), artists are free to draw attention to resources or critique the library from their point-of-view. The exhibits are reflections of the library and what it offers, posing a different way of viewing research and information sources. This differing view can help those who learn outside of the ways of traditional academia – like other artists – see all that the library has to offer.
Exhibits also give library faculty and staff a chance to gauge themselves. Payne writes that “using the reflective nature of studio-based learning has become an important new forum for us to evaluate our services, keep in open dialogue with our users and promote the idea of the Library as a place within a larger communal sphere of influences” (2018, p.40). He concludes that the “exhibitions help us engage with students, using a curricular language that they understand” (2018, p. 41).
This fusion of art and library is still popular today. Earlier this year, ALJ published an article on using artists’ books for social change, as they “foster conversations that address social justice issues and to generate dialog that can lead to greater understanding” (Carlin, 2019, p. 2). Another current example of this fusion can be seen in the Plano Public Library. Their art program has become a central part of their community. “Visitors to the 18st AIRSpace represent a broad cross-section of our community, bringing together people of different age groups, cultures, and languages, as well as multigenerational families and people with disabilities” (Linscott & Morgan, 2018, p. 52). Art within the free and open space of the library opens the door to cultural experiences and greater social understanding patrons may not otherwise receive.
In the last year, ALJ focused a great deal on the physical space of the library (Vol. 43, Issue 1). This focus comes from a lot of the renovations or new homes long-standing libraries are finding. This change is due, in large part, to the shifting culture of modern society. Technological advances have made information more accessible from outside the four walls of the library. Since patrons are no longer coming in to read, space is free for use in other ways. Many European libraries are adding art galleries and pavilions to enhance their space and offer more to their patrons.
The library as a link to multicultural literacy and understanding diverse populations is an ongoing theme throughout all of ALJ’s issues. In Fionnuala Croke’s discussion of the Chester Beatty Library in Ireland, she points out that the Chester Beatty “has become a portal through which Ireland’s increasingly diverse population can become familiar with cultures ‘different’ to their own” (2018, p. 139). It is Croke’s assertation that the Chester Beatty offers a physical space for people to gather, while providing “opportunities for shared emotional experience” (2018, p. 140). She expounds on the library as space by adding it has “influence as a forum for discussions and debates about culture, not only from a historic or artistic point of view, but as a context or backdrop for wider sociological debate around cultural diversity” (2018, p. 142).
Looking to the future of LIS, culture and cultural literacy are going to play a big part in the library’s role in the community. Technology will continue to free up physical space within the library, which will allow it to truly become a gathering space for learning and debate. Though much information is now available outside of the library, its societal role is simply evolving not disappearing.
References
Bolay, K. (1977). The political and social significance of loan collections of works of art. Art Libraries Journal, 2(2), 26-30. doi:10.1017/S030747220020289
Boyd, Kealey. (2018). Can Art Lending Libraries Empower a New Generation of Collectors? Hyperallergic. https://hyperallergic.com/437125/art-lending-libraries/
Carlin, J. A. (2019). Artists’ books as catalysts for social change. Art Libraries Journal, 44(1), 2–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2018.34
Croke, F. (2018). Exploring cultural diversity and identity at the Chester Beatty Library. Art Libraries Journal, 43(3), 137–142. https://doi.org/10.1017/alj.2018.18
Foden-Lenahan, Erica. UK & Ireland Art Libraries Society. ARLISmatters. https://arlismatters.wordpress.com/art-libraries-journal-alj/
Linscott, K. & Morgan, B. (2017). Plano Public Library: Engaging the Community Through Art. Marketing Libraries Journal, 1(1), 49-59.
Payne, D. (2008). Exhibiting information literacy: site-specific art and design interventions at the Ontario College of Art & Design. Art Libraries Journal, 33(1), 35–41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0307472200015200
Sisto, Carrie. (2018). New art lending library loans works to Tenderloin neighbors for free. Hoodline. https://hoodline.com/2018/08/new-art-lending-library-loans-works-to-tenderloin-neighbors-for-free
Wolf, Stephanie. (2018). Why MCA Denver Is Letting You Borrow Art For Up To A Year. Colorado Public Radio. https://www.cpr.org/news/story/why-mca-denver-is-letting-you-borrow-art-for-up-to-a-year
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