ARLIS/NA 53rd Annual Conference

Comics, graphic novels, and zines challenge several library conventions such as classification, material format, and bias towards textual presentation of knowledge. In their own disruptive manner, these materials can "queer" the library, complicating established paradigms and carving out their own unique spaces and user groups. Not coincidentally, many of these materials are created by LGBTQ2S+ artists and authors and queer and trans themes are often central to their content. The collection, preservation, and promotion of these materials are essential to supporting LGBTQ2S+ activism.

In order to explore these concepts more fully, the Graphic Novels, Comics, and Zines SIG and the LGBTQ+ SIG collaborated to propose a round table discussion at the 2025 ARLIS/NA Conference. With help from the co-editors of the ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review, we plan to anchor discussion around a recently reviewed queer and trans fantasy-romance graphic novel. We have invited the author/illustrator, a representative from the publisher of the title (a radical indie publisher of comics and graphic novels), and an ARLIS/NA member reviewer from NGNR. This session also celebrates the nine years of Notable Graphic Novels Review by highlighting the collaboration between authors, publishers, and library and information workers needed to support this art form.

Guiding questions: What kinds of queer and trans possibilities are afforded by the medium of comics/graphic novels? What are ways that libraries, publishers, and artists can collaborate to support queer and trans comics? How are efforts to censor LGBTQ2S+ books in libraries affecting your work?

Craft in the Filing Cabinet: Documenting the History of Craft Workers, Objects, and Spaces in Institutional Records Tough - Jenna Stout
A 2024 review of artist files in this small art museum library revealed an overall lack of staff artist representation. More specifically, the artist files did not reflect the numerous craft workers employed by the institution since its founding. This collecting gap can be partially traced to the historic separation of fine arts and applied arts.

With roots in the late nineteenth century, this museum offered night classes in bookbinding, drafting, and other technical arts for day laborers. Craft workers, in the form of carpenters, plasterers, and house painters, help build the institution from the ground-up. From WPA technical drawings to artist file drawers by the Crafts Division, hand-built slide carrying cases, and the award-winning period room restoration project of the 1980s, the institutional records reveal a rich history of on-site craft labor that is embedded in the galleries and other spaces. On a more localized scale, the museum library's design itself is the work of a prominent architect; however, the library's interior has been reconfigured to fit new spaces under the skilled supervision of the museum's cabinetry department. While reports of craft workers and objects pop up in the archives, a delineation between work product and art object is reverberated in institutional records.

The presenter will discuss a collection audit and subsequent reparative description project of administrative files to illuminate craft history in the museum archives. Legacy filing systems, retention schedules, and cataloging practices can pose barriers to the discoverability of craft stories. In reviewing and redescribing administrative files, there is an opportunity to shed light on the labor of staff and contractors that might not be visible in top-level staff directories and archived record container lists. A range of source materials can be utilized for tours, exhibitions, and other programming events. The presenter will also touch on research approaches to sift out historic documentation and tangible objects related to hidden labor and marginalized voices in repositories.

A Tough Row to Hoe: Weeding an Art & Design Collection - Amy Lazet
Many libraries are increasingly under pressure to reduce the footprint of their physical collections. This is an impetus for many to aggressively deaccession titles from their existing print collections, a necessary but potentially fraught task. Weeding a library's collections requires a robust set of criteria against which the books can be evaluated.

Many of the seminal texts on weeding focus on public libraries while the literature for academic libraries tends to emphasize quantitative criteria as well as encouraging a reliance on interlibrary loans and ebooks. Art and design publications, however, are more print preferred than other disciplines. Furthermore, these specialized collections often contain books that are difficult to replace (i.e. exhibition catalogs from a limited print run that cannot be repurchased at a reasonable price a few years later). Some authors have recognized that the humanities require more qualitative criteria, but there is a dearth of literature around weeding art and design collections specifically. The relevant publications that do exist, meanwhile, often focus on a very narrow portion of art and design collections (e.g., reference books).

In 2021, the author's institution integrated its branch library into the main library's space. The author was tasked with single-handedly evaluating the entire print book collection, a task that had not happened for at least 20 years. Based on information drawn from existing literature, consultations with librarians at other art and design institutions, and a process of trial and error, the author developed a comprehensive set of guidelines for weeding all subject areas in an art and design collection.

This paper makes available that set of criteria for weeding and art design books and particularly photography books including qualitative criteria and a sliding scale for quantitative criteria. This information will also be contextualized with findings from a survey of deaccessioning practices from other art and design collections.

Criticizing Art Criticism - Emilee Mathews
This paper investigates how racism and sexism interoperate in the reflection of contemporary art through gallery shows and exhibition reviews. In order to do so, I gathered a set of 97 exhibition reviews covering the 2016/2017 season from well known publications such as Artforum, New York Times, Brooklyn Rail and more.

In this paper I build on previous quantitative research tracing proportionality by qualitatively analyzing not only which artists were covered, but also how. I analyze demographic biases (are artists of color more favorably reviewed than white artists?) as well as art historical trends (are painters better received than sculptors? Which galleries tend to have the most favorable coverage?). I uncover author affiliations and compare articles they've written against others in the dataset. I then contextualize these reviews and the dispositions they reflect in art criticism literature from the stalwart Sylvan Barnett to the intrepid Aruna D'Souza and meta publications like "the Bad Review List" from 4Columns. I look additionally at the role criticism and reviews play more broadly in contemporary society. From food to film, books to bed and breakfasts, whose judgments we seek and taste we emulate has changed significantly due to sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon and Yelp. By analyzing this article dataset, we can explore dynamics of how the publications we collect in the library reflect broader cultural ecologies.

Increasing Access: Using Universal Design to Bridge Gaps in Library Instruction
Activating Community in the Studio: Teaching the Art of Concept Mapping
The Art of Collaboration: Special Collections and Liaison Librarian teamwork

Details coming soon.

Empowering Visual Artists through Digital and Data Literacy: A Community-Based Collaborative Approach to Developing Open Educational Resources for Visual Arts Centers - Kate Thornhill

Reconciliation Address Book - a mail art project - Fong Ku

The Importance and Cultural Value of Increased Visibility and Access to Community Archives - Faythe Levine

Expanding Access to Inuit Art: One Museum's Contribution to a Major Digital Resource - Lisa Gavell & Nicole Fletcher

Collective Description of the Emily Carr University Print Collection - Ana Diab

Lightning talk descriptions will be available soon.

Building on the ARLIS/NA Best Practices for Library Exhibitions guide published by the Exhibitions SIG in 2021, this roundtable will consider the role and importance of exhibitions in libraries and archives for engagement, outreach, and pedagogy. By drawing on the insights of a diverse group of librarians, emerging curators, artists, and practitioners, the session will explore opportunities and challenges of curating and presenting exhibitions in libraries. As libraries strive to connect to diverse communities equitably, how can library exhibitions engage viewers with different disciplines, experiences, and backgrounds? While the academic library is often viewed as separate from visual art, what are the alternate and potentially collaborative curatorial strategies when introducing new audiences to the spaces? The roundtable will include a discussion of the following questions:  
- How do the physical spaces of libraries and archives shape the viewing experience or expectations of the audience?
- How can programming, outreach, and other inclusion initiatives bridge gaps between the audiences, the intentions of the curators, and artists or content creators?
- What collaborative strategies can be used in exhibitions design between artists or content creators, gallery or library and archive administrators, students, curators?
- How can exhibit curation, design, and engagement prioritize supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion?
- Are library and archive exhibits experiencing censorship, self-censorship, or challenges of their content?

The facilitators include librarians and a graduate student with a range of experiences in academic libraries and archives, including art and architecture collections. The facilitators also have experience in exhibitions and contributing to conversations about exhibitions in libraries.

DIY DEI: How Small Steps Can Lead to Big Changes - Pamela Caussy

Ways of Seeing (And Finding) - Annie Sollinger

Navigating the Complexity of Cross-Cultural Dance Resources: Challenges and Opportunities - Shan Chuah

Descriptions will be available soon. 

Join us for the ARLIS/NA Annual Membership Meeting, where we come together as a community to reflect on our collective accomplishments and discuss future initiatives. The annual meeting is an opportunity for our leadership to report on our collective efforts and acknowledge the progress we are making to shape the path forward. A full agenda will be shared as we approach the conference.

Following the meeting, we will honor outstanding contributions to our field at the Distinguished Service Award Ceremony. This award recognizes an individual whose exemplary service has made an exceptional contribution to the field of art information.