In May several members of the Society of Art Librarianship Students took a short trip to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit the Stout Reference Library at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The head librarian, Alba Fernandez-Keys, was nice enough to come in on one of her days off to show us around and answer any questions we had.
We were able to see the reading room areas and desks used by retired curators, as well as the closed stacks (which had lovely compact shelving). Alba talked with us about the roots of the IMA and the library, and the way it has changed over the years. We were also able to discuss price of materials and budget allocation, which is really useful for a librarian aspiring to art librarianship within a museum setting. Overall, our tour and the discussion gave us a good survey of multiple facets of the library: facilities, materials, budget, human resources, and an evolving patron base.
It was a great experience to get to see the library in its entirety, and hear about the sort of use it gets and the challenges and opportunities it faces. Alba also discussed internships and job opportunities at the IMA and beyond, and it was wonderful to get some career advice from a working art librarian! The group hopes to visit the IMA again in the future to see the library in action (as we were there when it was closed) and to take a more leisurely look through the collections.
No comments:
Post a Comment