The Art Library: A New Art Landmark at Rutgers Mall

Abstract

The Art Library of Rutgers University is located in a new facility on the historic Voorhees Mall. The mall is one of the oldest parts of the University. Some of its buildings date back to the university's early colonial beginnings. The mall is dominated on one end by the administration building, Old Queen's, and on the other end by the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. A historic sculpture of William the Silent presides at one extremity of the mall, while on the other, a modern sculpture in front of the art museum proclaims its contemporary role. The mall serves as the nucleus of an otherwise dispersed university. It is a ceremonial and symbolic place where every year hundreds of new graduates march the traditional path from Old Queen's, past the Art Library to Murray Hall, to receive their diplomas in celebration of the affirmation of their achievement. On this historic mall stands the Art Library: it observes, participates, and educates. The Art Library was transferred in 1966 from Alexander Library to Voorhees Hall, an already existing building and the former main library for the university in New Brunswick. The move was accomplished with the initiative and active participation of the Art History Department under the chairmanship of James Stubblebine. Roger Tarman, a newly hired art librarian, organized the transfer. James Stubblebine expressed his enthusiasm and approval of the new arrangement in his article "Art Finds Home": "Part of the old bookstack area has been made into an art library, with its attractive reading room, which is one of the triumphs of the building." In the same building and at the same time, the Art Gallery was established. This arrangement provided for a working symbiosis among three related but separate parts—the Art Gallery, the Art History Department, and the Art Library—and defined the center of the art community at Rutgers. Although the library was now well-located, the space it occupied had not been specifically planned to accommodate the Art Library's needs.