Managing the Small Art Museum Library

Small art museum libraries are among the most administratively challenging of special libraries-and the most rewarding. Managing this most glamorous of research venues as the solo professional or with minimal assistance inevitably tests the librarian's deepest personal and professional reserves. He or she constantly weighs the desire to serve a highly attractive clientele-curators, art educators, docents, collectors, artists and independent researchers with the reality of what one librarian can do. Technology has an enormous impact on libraries and on art historical research, but small libraries struggle to pay for it. Services are possible today in small libraries that were available in only the largest institutions a decade ago. Although our OPACs can work "24/7," human beings cannot. Solo art museum librarians love their jobs but are in constant danger of burn-out. By managing themselves, they will keep their morale and their professional standards high.