2026/27 Kress Fellowship in Art Librarianship - Yale University
Location: New Haven, CT
Salary: $58,350
Employment Term: Full-time
Employer Contact: Heather Gendron, heather.gendron@yale.edu
INVITATION TO APPLY
Are you preparing to graduate or are you a recent library school graduate who wants to pursue a career in art librarianship? If so, we invite you to apply for the 2026/27 Kress Fellowship in Art Librarianship at Yale University. Candidates may include coursework, schoolwork, and internships to meet the qualifications for this fellowship. This opportunity is made possible through the generosity of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, which seeks to ensure the growth of the field by promoting the advancement of new professionals.
As the Kress Fellow, in this 12-month appointment you will work with Haas Arts Library staff to develop a project and participate in activities that are:
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aligned with your professional interests
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build on your prior experience
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are aligned with the library’s needs and priorities
Centered at the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, the fellowship also includes one day/week at the Yale Center for British Art’s Archives department. Priorities for exploration at Haas Arts Library include activating Haas Arts Library spaces and circulating collections, developing public services and outreach programs to Yale students and faculty, community outreach, collection development, and assessment. Working with the fellowship supervisor, you will develop a main project at Haas that will result in tangible deliverables, and your overall activities will relate to the subject areas primarily served by the Haas Arts Library: history of art, studio art, architecture, and design. Here is a list of past fellows and projects.
Opportunities may include participating in Haas Arts Library working groups, and you may interact with other groups in the wider Yale Library organization. As an example, recent Fellows helped lead the Arts Library’s social media efforts along with members of the Arts Library Social Media Team. You will be encouraged, supported, and mentored in professional development activities, and there will be opportunities for involvement in the wider Yale academic, scholarly, and professional community.
The Haas Family Arts Library at Yale serves an array of academic and museum programs, architects, artists, and scholars and is open to the public. Kress Fellows have opportunities to interact with faculty, staff and students in the Schools of Architecture, Art, and Drama; Department of the History of Art; and two university art museums, the Yale Center for British Art and the Yale University Art Gallery. They also have opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from throughout Yale Library, including the Sterling Memorial Library and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The rich professional and scholarly resources of New York City and Boston's art libraries and museums are within two hours' travel, providing further opportunities for professional growth and professional contact with colleagues in the region.
QUALIFICATIONS
Successful candidates will have:
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a master’s degree from an ALA-accredited program for library and information science (degree must be completed before the start date of July 1, 2026 but no earlier than January 1, 2025)
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an academic background in art, the history of art, architecture, design, or a related visual arts or design discipline
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an active interest in art/architecture/design librarianship
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effective communication skills
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an ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively as part of a team comprised of different people and roles
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initiative, project management skills, and the ability to multi-task with various deadlines
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a growth mindset and an ability to learn from setbacks
If you are excited about this fellowship opportunity and you have the required degrees, but you aren’t sure if your experience aligns perfectly with every other qualification in the description, we encourage you to apply anyway.
FELLOWSHIP AWARD AND BENEFITS
The Kress Fellow will be in residence at Yale for twelve months and will receive an award of $58,350, prorated over the fellowship term. Professional development/travel funding will be provided. Health insurance and other benefits will also be provided.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Submit a current resume or CV, a brief cover letter/statement of interest that explains why you are interested in this fellowship opportunity. The statement of interest should reflect a genuine commitment to art librarianship and an interest in the provision of services to the visual arts/architecture/design community. While you should state your area(s) of interest within art librarianship, you need not identify a project as that will be determined at the start of the fellowship in consultation with the fellowship supervisor. Submit the names and contact information for three professional references. Applications must be submitted before the end of the day January 30, 2026, as the review of applications will begin that week. A search committee of Yale librarians will review submissions. Candidates who are selected for interviews will be contacted.
Yale Library serves a diverse staff, campus, local, and global community and is deeply committed to advancing its goals for equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This commitment is reflected in our mission, strategic directions, staff values, initiatives, and scholarly activity. We encourage candidates to apply who embrace a multi-cultural, diverse, and inclusive workplace and who strive to incorporate those values into their work.
THE UNIVERSITY AND THE LIBRARY
Yale University offers exciting opportunities for achievement and growth in New Haven, Connecticut. Conveniently located between Boston and New York, New Haven is the creative capital of Connecticut with cultural resources that include three major museums, a critically acclaimed repertory theater, state-of-the-art concert hall, and world-renowned schools of Architecture, Art, Drama, and Music.
The Yale University Library, as one of the world's leading research libraries, collects, organizes, preserves, and provides access and services for a rich and unique record of human thought and creativity. It fosters intellectual growth and supports the teaching and research missions of Yale University and scholarly communities worldwide. A distinctive strength is its rich spectrum of resources, including around 15 million volumes and information in all media, ranging from ancient papyri to early printed books to electronic databases. Housed in fifteen locations including the Sterling Memorial Library, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Bass Library, it employs a dynamic and diverse staff of approximately five hundred who offer innovative and flexible services to library readers. For additional information on the Yale University Library, please visit the library's web site at https://library.yale.edu/.
THE ROBERT B. HAAS FAMILY ARTS LIBRARY
The Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library specializes in visual arts, history of art, design, architecture, and drama, and includes arts-related special collections. The Haas Arts Library is comprised of approximately 500,000 volumes, with 150,000 volumes onsite including important reference works, monographs, exhibition catalogs, and print periodicals, that complement digital resources such as e-journals, e-books, and databases. Arts Library Special Collections features volumes and archival materials on book arts, fine printing, bookplates, typography, illustration, architecture, and graphic design, as well as thesis projects from the Schools of Art and Drama. For more information, visit our website at https://library.yale.edu/artslibrary.
THE YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART
The Yale Center for British Art holds the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The YCBA’s collections of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photographs, rare books, and manuscripts present the story of British art and culture, and its global contexts, from the fifteenth century to today. Together with the Reference Library and Archives, the collections are an exceptional resource for anyone interested in British art and its histories. For more information, please visit the YCBA website at https://britishart.yale.edu.