EDIT: I just talked with a library employee who gave a perspective + some info I found worth including in this post – click through the jump to see my additions.

So, how about that whole Art Library closing thing? Were you invited to that party? No? Didn’t even hear about it? Had enough questions? Read on:

That’s right, y’all: it’s been brought to my attention, through email and face2face conversation, that apparently our administration is moving forward with a plan to close the Art Library at its current location by 2014, consolidate its holdings into Olin (where some of them already reside), and as part of the process weed out quite a few books. Here are a few reasons (some) students and faculty are opposed to this plan going forward:

• The current plan seems to be to have the Art Library’s holdings moved to Olin by May 2014.
• The Art Library has some of Wesleyan’s most valuable items in its collection, with special oversight that they may not receive in Olin. Also, having the Art Library in the Center for the Arts seems intuitively appealing.
• A dozen student jobs will be removed, and the time and energy spent on moving the books is likely to add more to the plates of people who already have work to do.
• Maybe the most important point is that this plan appears to be going forward without any input from students. If you’re not okay with decisions about resources we use being made without asking (or even announcing, really), this might be a meeting worth attending.

The points above are assembled from information provided directly by students, including current Art Library employees and a student representative on the Faculty Library Committee (so, indirectly, library staff and faculty as well).

Interested? Attend the response planning meeting Tuesday (tomorrow) night, at 10 PM in the UOC (between Beta and Eclectic). Maybe you think the planned consolidation is actually a good idea. If so, your perspective might be even more valuable. Also, if you’d like to be included in the email discussion, feel free to email yours truly.