Library League

The Ingalls Library is one of the largest art research libraries in the United States with more than 530,000 volumes focused on the study of art. The Museum Archives houses the historical records of the institution and functions as the records management center.

The combined resources of the library and archives serve to assist museum staff in the researching and planning of exhibitions, programming, publications, and acquisitions. In addition to research and archival work, our library also houses rare books and manages book preservation, digitization, and open access initiatives. The Ingalls Library and Museum Archives serve academic communities, museum members, and the public in advancing art historical research of a scholarly or personal nature. Moreover, the library is integral to the CMA-CWRU joint program in art history and provides invaluable assistance to artists, docents, collectors, teachers, and scholars everywhere through the museum’s Open Access initiatives.

The Ingalls Library and Museum Archives are an indispensable resource of the CMA and one of the museum’s top strategic priorities. This fund supports their critical work, including such important initiatives as endowing several needed positions in the library; funding a strategic initiative to digitize, catalog, and add historic photonegatives of objects in the museum collection, important documents, and papers of Cleveland’s artists; and prioritizing the acquisition of research materials on diverse artists. Gifts to the Library League enable the library to continue its critical work and help the Cleveland Museum of Art maintain its global reputation as a research center.

To learn more about how to support the Library League, please contact membership@clevelandart.org.