Clarence B. Hanson Jr Library

The Clarence B. Hanson Jr Library is a public art research and reference library located on the first floor of the Birmingham Museum of Art. Its collection includes more than 35,000 items, with a focus on documenting the artwork in the museum's collection, as well as the historical, technical and cultural contexts in which they were created, collected and traded. These materials include general art references, exhibition and auction catalogs, artist's biographies and papers, periodicals, indexes and databases. Lindsey Reynolds has been serving as the staff librarian since 2014.

Special collections at the Hanson Library include the Chellis Wedgwood Collection, including editions of rare monographs of Classical art used by Wedgwood's artists. Reynolds has also begun adding more artist's books to the collection.

The library was originally created in 1966 as part of the present museum's first expansion. It was later endowed by a gift from Elizabeth Hanson in memory of her late husband Clarence Bloodworth Hanson Jr, a publisher of The Birmingham News and twenty-four year member of the Birmingham Museum of Art's Board of Trustees.

The library, which is a member of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, is open to the public on Wednesday's from 1:00 to 4:00 PM and by appointment. Materials may not be removed from the library.

References

• Levine, Brett (September 1, 2015) "Shelf Life" B-Metro

External links

• Clarence B. Hanson Jr Library at artsbma.org