Careers
STUDENT
ARLIS/UK & Ireland – Global Majority Art Librarianship Scholarship
Applications for the 2025-26 academic year will be advertised shortly.
ARLIS UK & Ireland (The Art Libraries Society) are pleased to offer this ‘fees only’ scholarship for an individual undertaking a UK accredited Library, Information, or Archive Studies postgraduate qualification as a small first step towards addressing the ongoing underrepresentation of Black library workers and library workers of colour within art librarianship. The scholarship will be awarded annually (subject to financial stability), with details and the application form made available from the ARLIS UK & Ireland website.
We acknowledge that art librarianship in the UK and Ireland continues to be overwhelmingly white. The 2015 UK information sector workforce survey found the profession to be 96.7% white. This reinforces the urgency and importance of steps to increase global majority access to qualifications which often remain a prerequisite for entry to the profession and development to senior roles. While we do not uncritically support the need for a qualification to perform valuable work in libraries, we do believe that university fees are a significant barrier to entry for many. The scholarship is a key recommendation of the ARLIS Equity Steering Group, whose work we are grateful for.
We welcome applicants from Black, Asian or minority ethnic / Global Majority backgrounds. Students applying to any UK postgraduate (MA, MSc, PgDip, PgCert) course accredited by CILIP are eligible, but courses which include modules or studies relevant to art librarianship (such as placements at a member institution) may strengthen an application. Students applying for full-time, or part-time or modular courses are eligible, as are distance learning options. The successful applicant should be eligible for Home fees. Fees will be paid directly to the university.
Previous awards:
2024 award winner
Rhoda Adum Boateng
2023 award winners
Dinushi Bopearachchi
Rohwana Ogunbiyi
2022 Award winner
Shakira Rawlins
RESEARCH
ARLIS/UK & Ireland Research Awards
The ARLIS UK & Ireland Research Awards are made possible by the generosity of an anonymous donor and have been established to support the research activities of librarians, archivists and curators in the art, architecture and design documentation sector, and to open research opportunities to individuals from groups currently underrepresented. The awards are made annually, with details and the application form made available from the ARLIS UK & Ireland website.
The award may be used for any purpose related to the research into the documentation of art, art librarianship or archival practice and may include travel within or outside the UK and Ireland, event attendance, and visits to libraries, collections and institutions (excluding events organised by ARLIS UK & Ireland itself).
There are two awards, one for a member of ARLIS and one for a non-member.
Members Research Award up to £1500.
Non-members Research Award up to £1000.
Applications for the 2026 awards will open in Autumn 2025.
Previous awards:
2025 award winners
Aoife Larkin, Leeds Arts University
Francisca Fuentes Rettig
2024 award winners
Suzanna Hall, Arts University Bournemouth
Billie Coxhead (UAL), Fiona Dowling and Morwenna Peters (both UWE Bristol)
2023 award winner
Jessa Mockridge, Goldsmiths, University of London. Report forthcoming.
2022 award winners
Lydia Julien, Ravensbourne College. Report forthcoming.
Sae Matsuno, Stuart Hall Library, Iniva. You can read the report on her experience here.
Travel & Study Fund winners (succeeded by Research Awards)
2019 award winners
Hannah Dunne-Howrie, National Art Library, V&A Museum. Hannah attended the CILIP Copyright Conference. Read the report on her experience here.
Eleanor Gawne, Architectural Association School of Architecture. Eleanor attended the ARCLIB conference, in Venice, May 2019. Read the report on her experience here.
2018 award winner
Alexandra Duncan, Central Saint Martins (UAL). Alex presented a paper at the ARLIS/NA 2018 Conference in New York. Read the report on her experience here.
