ARLIS/UK & Ireland: the Art Libraries Society is the professional organisation for peopleinvolved in providing library and information services and documenting resources in the visual arts.Founded in 1969, the Society is an educational charity with over 700 members worldwide, including librarians, archivists, libraries, publishers and specialist library suppliers.
Our members work in libraries and archives serving the academic, public, gallery and museum sectors.
We welcome as members people and organisations with an interest in the documentation of art and design and the provision of library and information services to artists, designers and architects.
What ARLIS does
We promote excellence in the provision of library and information resources for the visual arts, architecture and design in order to extend information, appreciation and understanding for the benefit of all.
Through our networks and activities we provide a forum for debate, discussion and the dissemination of ideas relating to visual arts librarianship.
We are also an active professional organisation keenly involved in developments in art librarianship, nationally and internationally. We have close links with art libraries societies worldwide, including ARLIS/North America, ARLIS/ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) and with individual art libraries societies in Europe as well as in Canada and Japan. ARLIS/UK & Ireland is an institutional member of IFLA and participates in the Section of Art Libraries, which it helped to establish.