What Our Members Are Saying: Heather Kerner
Your Name: Heather Kerner
Title and Affiliation: Librarian II | Fine Arts & Music Department, Artist in Residence Coordinator
Year(s) of ARLIS/NA Membership: I've been a member for 3 years, but I've been following along even longer as a non-member.
About Yourself and Your Workplace
What are you working on now that you’re proud of?
I am co-coordinator of the Public Librarian SIG. We lead a group dedicated to art librarians in public libraries, offering a supportive network that helps members avoid professional isolation. While art librarians in museums or universities often have built in professional communities, those in public libraries can be more professionally disconnected, making this network especially important. Together, we share resources, address common challenges, and explore ways to strengthen collections, programming, and collaboration, while fostering both community and professional growth.
What’s one of your favorite new resources that your institution has acquired recently? How have you been able to use that resource already, or how are you looking forward to sharing it with your patrons?
The Pratt Free Market (PFM) is a new initiative that brings the community together through access to healthy, free food. PFM addresses food insecurity and reduces hunger in Baltimore City by offering a welcoming, judgment-free space. The market is bright, modern, and fully accessible, stocked with fresh produce, pantry essentials, and more thanks to generous local partners. For an art librarian, a free food market is about more than food—it fosters community, culture, creativity, and social engagement, and can inspire exhibits, programs, research, and meaningful public connections.
About Your Experience with ARLIS/NA
What was the first ARLIS/NA conference you went to, and what memories have stuck with you from that event?
52nd Annual Conference that was held in Pittsburgh, PA, in 2024. The conference included tours of cultural institutions in Pittsburgh, workshops on innovative, in-depth topics, and networking opportunities.
What other professional organizations are you a member of? How does your involvement with ARLIS/NA complement or inform your engagement with those organizations?
I serve on the steering committee for BIER (the Baltimore Informal Educators Roundtable), a program of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. BIER brings together informal educators from museums, libraries, and cultural institutions to share ideas, grow professionally, and collaborate.
Both BIER and ARLIS/NA emphasize community building and professional development. Each organization fosters connection, facilitates the exchange of ideas, and provides mutual support for people working in cultural, educational, and information-focused fields.
While ARLIS/NA primarily serves art information professionals, BIER supports educators across museums, libraries, and other cultural venues. Together, they demonstrate how professional communities can strengthen networks, skills, and collaboration within the cultural and educational sectors.
If you’re open to being contacted by members with questions, what kinds of topics would you be a good person to ask about? Please share your email address.
- Art librarianship within a public library context.
-
Coordinating an Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program at a public library.
-
Developing and implementing both in-person and passive art programming in a public library setting.