El Paso Museum of Art is also a Public Library

[tubemonkey]

Here's an interesting collaboration. I like this kind of outside-the-box thinking and welcome it. Hope other museums follow suit.

A tucked-away collection of art books is now a full-fledged research and reference library that is open to the public.

Sunday, the El Paso Museum of Art and its partner, the El Paso Public Library system, officially dedicated what city officials are calling the first public library in the country devoted to the visual arts.

About 100 people attended the ceremony at the Downtown art museum, which has had an art library since it opened its current location in 1998, thanks to a grant from the Meadows Foundation.

What's new is the Algur H. Meadows Library -- named after the late Dallas art collector and entrepreneur -- is now open to the public with set hours.

Previously, it was by appointment only and was primarily used by the museum's staff, said Michael Tomor, director of the art museum.

Right now, these books are for in library use only; but can be loaned to other libraries.

"These books are just too expensive to be replaced," Tomor [museum director] said.

[Rylon]

Nice. I've heard of something similer, where members of the L.A. Natural History Museum can check out some of the museum's holdings. But I've never seen an art museum hold art books. Good idea.

[graycyn]

Nice!

I like art and libraries combined. My local small town library holds small exhibitions of local artists flat work, they hang on the walls leading down the ramp to the stacks. Always enjoyable, and at the top of the ramp, they have a podium with information about the artist, a guestbook and also a place where you can leave your name/phone/email to have the artist contact you if you are interested in buying anything. It helps promote local artists and provides a nice experience for library patrons.

Overall, I think our library does a great job at staying relevant to the public. Lots of computer stations, free WiFi, plenty of books, Overdrive, the art exhibitions and plenty of nifty short workshops and programs for people to attend.

I really like the idea of museums opening up their resources to the public for research, I also hope more of them do this kind of thing.

[tubemonkey]

Here's another source for art books:

Getty Research Institute Launches Gateway to the World's Art Libraries

Created with some of the world’s leading art libraries, the Getty Research Portal™ offers unlimited access to nearly 20,000 digitized art history texts in the public domain, with more to come

LOS ANGELES—On Thursday, May 31, 2012 the Getty Research Institute (GRI) will launch the Getty Research Portal, an unprecedented resource that will provide universal access to digitized texts in the field of art and architectural history.

The Getty Research Portal is a free online search gateway that aggregates descriptive metadata of digitized art history texts, with links to fully digitized copies that are free to download. Art historians, curators, students, or anyone who is culturally curious can unearth these valuable sources of research without traveling from place to place to browse the stacks of the world’s art libraries. There will be no restrictions to use the Getty Research Portal; all anyone needs is access to the internet.

Here's a link to the portal. Keep in mind that it won't go live until 31 May:

Getty Research Portal