Skip to content
in your cart View Cart
Cart Join Login
Contact
Art Libraries Society of North America Logo
  • About
    • History
    • Organization
    • Executive Board
    • Awards and Honors
    • Mission
    • Contact Us
  • News and Events
    • News
      • ARLIS-L
      • Featured Art Libraries
      • Featured Projects
      • Press Releases
      • What Our Members are Saying
    • Events
      • ARLIS/NA-VRA Summer Educational Institute (SEI)
      • Conferences
      • Study Tours
  • Professional Resources
    • ARLIS/NA Commons and Kaltura Channel
      • ARLIS/NA Commons Login
      • Kaltura Channel
    • ARLIS/NA JobList
      • Post a Job
    • Internship List
    • Lunchtime Chats
    • Mentoring Programs
    • Market to the Membership
    • Organize a Webinar or Virtual Meeting
    • PDC Bulletin
  • Publications
    • Art Documentation
    • ARLIS/NA Reviews
    • Digital Art History Directory
    • Multimedia & Technology Reviews
    • Notable Graphic Novels Review
    • Research and Reports
    • Proposals and Guidelines
    • Library Exhibitions Review
  • Support
    • Give
    • Sponsor
    • The Society Circle
      • Awardee Stories
    • The Keystone | Planned Giving
    • Advertise
  • Membership
    • Join ARLIS/NA
    • Member Login
    • Membership Benefits
    • Member Directory
    • Ten Ways to Get Involved in ARLIS/NA
  • Contact
  • Join Login

Featured Art Library: Mui Ho Fine Arts Library, Cornell University

Date postedOctober 12, 2020
in Featured Art Libraries,

What used to be a red-bricked fortress is now a cathedral of space. In a renovated and repurposed building that’s more than 100 years old, the Mui Ho Fine Arts Library (FAL) opened its doors to the public just over a year ago. FAL occupies the upper floors of historic Rand Hall, beneath which is the fabrication shop, used by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), the college where the library is embedded.

Rand was constructed in 1911 as a three-story space. For this renovation, former AAP dean, Kent Kleinman, wanted the space to be “respectfully restored and radically re-inhabited.” The fabrication shop remained in the same location on the first floor of the building, but the third floor was removed in order to expand the library into a single space. The stacks, which are in four levels, were constructed in an inverse ziggurat shape, meaning that the first level is the smallest, and the topmost floor the largest. These stepped stacks appear to be floating, as they are suspended from the roof of the building, supported by columns and a strong, steel skeleton. The floors are grated metal, which allows for light and air circulation in the library. The Austrian design architect, Wolfgang Tschapeller, an AAP alum, found inspiration for this space in Cornell University’s own A.D. White Library with its three-tiered, wrought-iron stacks that serve to showcase books.

About 40% of FAL’s collection is housed in the library (roughly 104,000 volumes), and the other 60% is at the Library Annex. On average, we add about 4,000 titles annually, and it is a circulating collection, with the exception of our reference materials; the current issues of journals; flats (large, rare, and frequently expensive books that were at one time shelved lying flat); some of our student theses; and our modest but impressive teaching collection of artists’ books.

Half of the collection is about art, and the other half focuses on architecture and city and regional planning. FAL also has materials on art history, landscape architecture, classics, archaeology, apparel design, museum studies, typography, and many other subjects. Our most highly browsed section is the TRs, or the photography books. It is difficult to keep these volumes in LC call number order!

There are individual carrels for public seating, as well as a long desk running along one side of the space, where people can spread out and work collaboratively. There is also soft seating, where patrons can relax with reading materials, including our current periodicals and new books.

We have a small staff of two librarians, a circulation assistant, and an evening/weekend/student supervisor. All of us at FAL are happy to answer questions and help with requests. Do come by if you are in Ithaca, New York!

 

Photo credits: Top: Bill Staffeld; right, bottom: Carla DeMello

What Our Members Are Saying: Andrew WangDate postedOctober 7, 2020 Featured Art Library: The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Ohio State UniversityDate postedDecember 2, 2020

Categories

  • APPC News Alert
  • ARLIS/NA JobList
  • Community
  • Events
  • Annual Conference
  • ARLIS/NA-VRA SEI
  • Study Tours
  • Featured Art Libraries
  • Featured Projects
  • Internship List
  • Paid Internships
  • Unpaid Internships
  • Professional Development
  • PDC Bulletin
  • Publications
  • ARLIS/NA Reviews
  • M&T Reviews
  • Notable Graphic Novels
  • Research & Reports
  • Statements/Press Releases
  • WOMAS

Most Recent Posts

  • Cataloguing and Technical Services Librarian - Art Gallery of Ontario Date postedMay 2, 2025Posted
  • ARLIS/NA PDC Bulletin: April 2025 Date postedMay 1, 2025Posted
  • Information Literacy Librarian - John M. Flaxman Library - School of the Art Institute of Chicago Date postedApril 24, 2025Posted
  • Advocacy & Public Policy Committee News v. 11 n. 3, March 2025 Date postedApril 16, 2025Posted
  • State of Art Museum Libraries, 2024 Date postedApril 9, 2025Posted

Founded in 1972

4 Lan Drive Suite 100
Westford, MA 01886
USA

—

978.674.6211

  • About the Society
  • Chapters
  • Contact Us
Novi AMS
Association Management Software

Copyright © 2025 - Art Libraries Society of North America. Legal

×

Membership & Account Access

Are You a Member?

If you are a current member of ARLIS/NA and have not yet created an online account, we invite you to do so now to:

  • Access the Member Directory
  • Register for Events
  • Access ARLIS/NA Commons
  • Access Governance Materials
  • View & Pay Invoices
Create an Account

Applying for Membership?

The members of ARLIS/NA invite and encourage you to join! By joining ARLIS/NA, you are tapping into the largest and strongest network of art information professionals. By working together, we are able to live our core values, achieve our strategic directions, and enhance our profession as a whole.

All membership applications require payment in full for activation.

View Membership Information