MLD Pop-Up - "Dusting off the Shelves: Improving collections’ accessibility through better organization and outreach"

When Research Center Manager (librarian and archivist) Lillian Kinney began her role at the Brandywine Museum of Art in 2022, it was hard to find anything. Library collections were organized with outdated methods, and only a small portion of archival collections were processed, with lots of backlog remaining. Any form of an ILS or digital management system resided within TMS, which--from a library-professional point of view--was difficult to navigate for bibliographic collections. To remedy this, Lillian began the work of improving upon the collections’ organization and documentation—not just for herself and museum staff, but also for outside researchers, most of whom were unaware of the resources that the Research Center offers. In her talk, Lillian will share how she turned the Research Center from “wow, I didn’t know this was here!” to a place that is being utilized more frequently by staff and scholars alike, all while being realistic about what can be accomplished as a staff of one.