Current ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter Elected Officers (2026-2027)

Chair (2026): Lindsay King, Bowes Art & Architecture Library, Stanford University

Vice-Chair (2026)/Chair-Elect (2027): Sam Regal, UC Santa Cruz

Secretary/Treasurer (2025-2026): Abby Bridge, SFMOMA

Past Chair: Becky Alexander, SFAI LF+A

New officers elected!

 The ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter elected our new officers for 2022! 

Chair (2022): Katie Keller, Bowes Art & Architecture Library, Stanford University

Katie Keller has been an Art and Architecture Librarian at Stanford University since 2006, building collections, providing reference as well as research support and library instruction in all areas of art, art history and architecture. Previously, Katie worked at the Avery Library at Columbia University and the Art Institute of Chicago.  She holds a MLIS from the University of California, Berkeley and a BA in Art from Stanford University.

Vice-Chair (2022)/Chair-Elect (2023): Cordes Tarantino, C. Laan Chun Library, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Cordes is originally from Hawaii and has lived in the Bay Area for almost 8 years.  She earned her MLIS from San Jose State in December of 2020 and was a member of ARLISNAP  She has a bachelor’s in studio art and Asian Studies from Skidmore College and an MA in Chinese art history from the University of Hawaii.  She has been working at the Asian Art Museum since 2018 and is the solo librarian there since John Stucky retired July 2020.

Secretary/Treasurer (2022-2023): Lorna Corbetta, Bowes Art & Architecture Library, Stanford University

Lorna has an undergraduate degree in French and Italian from UC Boulder, and also lived in France and Italy for nearly a decade.  She earned her MLS from SJSU and has an MLA in liberal arts from Stanford--her thesis was on artists books.  Lorna served on the ARLIS/NA Executive Board in the late 1990s as the West Regional Representative.  She worked for the Research Libraries Group for many years, and is currently the Head of Reserves and Student Supervisor at Bowes Art and Architecture Library at Stanford.

ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter April 2021 meeting minutes

 The meeting minutes from the April 29, 2021, chapter meeting of ARLIS/NA Northern California are now posted. The meeting was held virtually via Zoom. 

Chapter Bylaws

The ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter revised its bylaws in 2021. The ARLIS/NA Executive Board approved the revisions on June 24, 2021. The approved, revised bylaws are as follows: 

ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter

Chapter Bylaws

Approved June 24, 1988; Revised December 28, 1988; Revised September 21, 1999; Revised May 18, 2007; Revised March 3, 2014; Revised April 16, 2021

Society Mission

            The Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) was founded in 1972 by a group of art librarians attending the America Library Association annual conference in Chicago. This group realized that to fulfill the need among art librarians for better communication and cooperation, and to provide a forum for ideas, projects, and programs, an entirely new and separate organization was required. Inspired by the model of the Art Libraries Society established in 1969 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, ARLIS/NA was created.
            The members include architecture and art librarians, visual resources professionals, artists, curators, educators, publishers, and others interested in visual arts. The Northern California chapter is one of its regional chapters.

Chapter Bylaws
Approved June 24, 1988; Revised December 28, 1988; Revised September 21, 1999: Revised May 18, 2007; Revised March 3, 2014; Revised April 16, 2021

Article I. Name
The name of the organization shall be ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter, hereafter referred to as "the Chapter".

Article II. Purposes
A. The organization shall promote the purposes of Art Libraries Society of North America, hereinafter referred to as "the Society," within the Northern California area.
B. The organization is organized and will be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, in order to advance the cause of librarianship and to promote the development, good management, and enlightened use of all art libraries and visual resources collections. In the furtherance of such purpose, the organization is authorized:
            1.          To promote the continuing professional education of its members and the general knowledge of the public by sponsoring conferences, seminars, lectures, workshops, and other exchanges of information and materials concerning all aspects of art librarianship and visual resources curatorship;
            2.         To stimulate greater use of art libraries and visual resources collections by sponsoring, supporting, or publishing resources directories, bibliographies, inventories, periodical journals, occasional papers, reports, and related materials concerning the organization and retrieval of art information;
            3.         To foster excellence in art librarianship and the visual arts by establishing standards for art libraries and visual resources collections, by promoting improvements in the academic education, of art librarians and visual resources curators, by sponsoring awards for outstanding achievement, and by other means to that end;
            4.         To engage in any activities conducive to furthering the organizations purposes, providing that such activities may be lawfully carried on by an organization exempt from federal income tax under sections 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended (of the corresponding provision of any future United States internal revenue law).

Article III. Charitable Activity Restrictions
A. No part of the net income of the organization shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to its directors, officers, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services actually rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes and objectives of this organization.

B. No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

C. Notwithstanding any other provisions set forth in these Articles of Incorporation (or constitution), at any time during which it is deemed a private foundation, the organization:
            1.          shall not engage in any act of self-dealing as defined in Section 4941(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws;
            2.         shall distribute its income for each taxable year at such time and in such manner as not to become subject to the tax on undistributed income imposed by Section 4942 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws;
            3.         shall not own any excess business holdings that would subject it to tax under section 4943 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws;
            4.         shall not make any investments in such manner as to subject the organization to the tax imposed by Section 4944 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent tax laws;
            5.         shall not make any taxable expenditures as defined in Section 4945(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws.

D. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles (or constitution) the organization shall not conduct or carry on any activities not permitted to be conducted or carry on by an organization exempt from tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or corresponding provisions of any subsequent tax laws, or any an organization contributions to which are to be deductible under section 170(c)(2) of such code or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws.

Article IV. Membership
A. Eligibility
            1.          Membership is open to all members of the Society.
            2.         Society and Chapter bylaws require that Chapter members join ARLIS/NA.
            3.         The Chapters Liaison of ARLIS/NA is a non-voting, ex-officio member of the Chapter.

B. Dues
            1.          Dues shall be determined by the Executive Committee and shall be ratified by member vote.
            2.         Dues shall be paid to the Secretary/Treasurer.
            3.         The membership year shall be from January 1 through December 31. All dues received after October 1st will be applied to the following year.
            4.         The Chapter shall have the right to impose additional fees upon the membership for specified projects subject to the approval of membership.

C. Privileges
            1.          All Local Chapter members are eligible to vote.
            2.         All Local Chapter members are eligible to hold elected office.
            3.         All Local Chapter members shall be entitled to receive announcements of meetings of the Chapter and other notices of general interest to the membership.

Article V. Officers
A. The elected officers of the Chapter shall be:
            1.          the Chairperson;
            2.         the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect;
            3.         and the Secretary/Treasurer.

B. Nominating Committee
            1.          The Chairperson shall appoint a Nominating Committee of at least two persons.
            2.         The Nominating Committee shall submit a slate of qualified candidates to be voted upon by the membership.

C. Qualifications
Any Local Chapter member may hold office and must file in writing an acceptance of the nomination with the Nominating Committee.

D. Elections
Officers shall be selected by a plurality of ballots cast by the voting members (See Article IV for definition of member).

E. Terms of Office:
            1.  for the Chairperson shall be one calendar year;
            2.  the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect shall be one calendar year;
            3.  and the Secretary/Treasurer shall be two calendar years.

F. Duties of Officers
            1.          The Chairperson shall:
                        a. act as executive officer of the Chapter;
                        b. assist the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect in the planning of the activities             of the Chapter;
                        c. draft and send to ARLIS/NA required reports;
                        d. shall serve ex-officio on all committees of the Chapter.
            2.         Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-Elect shall:
                        a. act as executive officer in the event the Chairperson is unable to serve;
                        b. act as the program chairperson;
                        c. be responsible for all announcements of meetings to the membership.
            3.         Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for:          
                        a. maintaining current membership rosters;
                        b. the keeping of minutes of the meetings of the Chapter;
                        c. the handling of all financial accounts of the Chapter;
                        d. sending reports of meetings of the Chapter to the Chapters Liaison within         thirty (30) days of the meeting;
                        e. maintaining the online accounts of the Chapter.

G. The above elected officers shall form the Executive Committee.

Article VI. Meetings
A. Meetings of the Chapter shall be called by the elected officers.
B. An annual business meeting shall be held in the fall of the year for the purpose of electing officers.
C. There will be a fall and spring meeting with additional meetings called by the officers as deemed appropriate.
D. Announcements of meetings shall be sent to the membership at least thirty (30) days in advance of the meeting. Announcements shall also be sent to the Chapters Liaison at this time.

Article VII. Special Committees
Special project committees shall be voted on by the membership of the Chapter or by written petition submitted to the Executive Committee by no fewer than five personal members.

Article VIII. Affiliation
Affiliation with other organizations in the Northern California area shall be at the discretion of the Executive Board of the Society and shall be in accordance with guidelines supplied by the Executive Board.

Article IX. Amendments
A. Amendments to these Bylaws may be proposed by any voting member and shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Committee.
B. The text of a proposed amendment shall be distributed to the voting membership at least two (2) weeks prior to a business meeting.
C. Approval of a two-thirds majority of those members voting attending the business meeting and the approval of the Executive Board of the Society shall be necessary to amend the bylaws.

Article X. Dissolution
Upon the dissolution of the organization or the winding up of its affairs, the assets of the organization shall be distributed exclusively for charitable or educational purposes or to organizations which are then exempt from federal tax under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal revenue Code of 1986 or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws and to which contribution are then deductible under Section 170 (c)(2) of such code or corresponding provisions of any subsequent federal tax laws. Organizations having proposals similar to those of this organization shall be preferred.

ARLIS/NA-NC Fall 2020 meeting minutes

 The meeting minutes of the ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter fall meeting, held virtually on October 7, 2020, are available here.

ARLIS/NA-NC Spring 2020 meeting minutes

The minutes from the May 18, 2020, meeting of the Art Libraries Society of North America Northern California Chapter are now posted. The meeting was conducted virtually via Zoom. 

ARLIS/NA-NC Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

The ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter's next chapter meeting will be held virtually on October 7, 2020, 3:00-4:30 PST. 

Meeting agenda:

1.    Business Meeting

a.     Welcome

b.     Secretary/Treasurer's Report

c.     Approval of Spring 2020 minutes 

d.     Announcement re: Vice-Chairperson elect 2021

e.    Event announcement: PeoplesLab + Dorit Cypis 10/21, 10-12

f.    Other announcements?

2.    Panel: Ch-ch-ch-changes! Library Adaptations During COVID and BLM

a.     Remote Reference and Instruction

Abby Bridge, SFMOMA & City College of San Francisco

Dayna Holz, City College of San Francisco

b.    Remote Teaching with Special Collections using Document Cameras

Benjamin Albritton, Rare Books Curator, Stanford Libraries Special Collections

Peter Blank, Photography Curator, Stanford Libraries Special Collections

c.    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Collections at the SFMOMA Library

David Senior, Head of Library and Archives, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

3.    Breakout sessions / discussion topics

a.     Hi, how are you?

b.     How has your library been adapting during this time of closure? Have you modified library services or introduced new services?

c.     How is your library addressing (or planning to address) issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion? 

ARLIS/NA-NC fall meeting, November 1, 2019

Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, UC Berkeley
(iPhone photo by Kay Teel)

The fall 2019 meeting of ARLIS/NA-Northern California Chapter was held on November 1 at the Art History/Classics Library, University of California, Berkeley. Attendees toured the Art History/Classics Library before the chapter's business meeting, then joined members of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Special Libraries Association for a buffet-style lunch at the faculty club (Bernard Maybeck, architect). After lunch was a tour of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, which holds one of the largest anthropological collections in the United States. Best known for its Native American collections, the museum's cultural objects come from around the world. Ira Jacknis, Ph.D., Senior Research Anthropologist, introduced the museum's history and collections. Tours of the exhibit and on-site storage spaces were given by Jacknis and by Katie Fleming, Gallery Manager and Education Coordinator, followed by a brief question-and-answer session. 

Full meeting minutes available. 

ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter Fall 2019 meeting

The Joint Fall Meeting of the ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter & San Francisco Bay Area Special Libraries Association will be held on Friday, November 1, 2019, at the Art History/Classics Library & Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. 

Schedule: 
9:45-10:30 - Tour of the Art History/Classics Library by Lynn Cunningham, Art Librarian
10:30-11:45 - Business Meeting, Room 303, Doe Library
11:45-1:15 - Walk to the no-host joint luncheon with Special Libraries Association at the Men's Faculty Club (Bernard Maybeck, Architect)
1:30-3:00 - Tour of Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology by Research Anthropologist Ira Jacknis ($10/person fee--cash only)
3:00-5:00 - Explore the Berkeley campus on your own. The Berkeley Art Museum has several new exhibitions, see bampfa.org for details.

RSVP required. Contact the ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter for more details.

Save the date: Fall Meeting, November 1, 2019

The next ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter meeting will be held Friday, November 1, 2019, on the University of California campus. It will be the first time our Chapter will meet jointly with the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Special Libraries Association. This will be an all-day meeting including a tour of the Art History/Classics Library, a no-host lunch at the Faculty Club, and a guided tour of the Phoebe Hearst Anthropology Museum ($10 fee per person). The meeting will be held from approximately 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (Further details will be posted closer to the meeting date.) 

ARLIS/NA-NC spring meeting, May 10, 2019

Veterans Building
(iPhone photo by Kay Teel)

The spring 2019 meeting of ARLIS/NA-Northern California Chapter was held on May 10 at the Edward Paul Braby San Francisco Opera Archives in the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue. Barbara Rominski, Director of the Archives, introduced attendees to the long and fascinating history of the San Francisco Opera and its archives and showed treasures from the collection, including scenery sketches and props.

Treasures from the archives on display
(iPhone photo by Kay Teel)

After touring the photo galleries, the group crossed Memorial Court to the War Memorial Opera House for a special behind-the-scenes look and visits to the Opera's orchestra library and music library. 

Memorial Court, facing City Hall

(iPhone photo by Kay Teel)

Full meeting minutes now available.

ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter spring meeting

The ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter will hold its spring 2019 meeting on May 10th, 2019, at the Edward Paul Braby San Francisco Opera Archives from 9:00AM to 1:00PM. For more information, please contact: arlisnocal [at] gmail [dot] com.

ARLIS/NA California chapters combined meeting, March 27, 2019

The Northern California and Southern California chapters of ARLIS/NA held a joint business meeting during the ARLIS/NA 2019 Conference in Salt Lake City. The meeting was held on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in the Riviera room of the Grand America Hotel from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

There were far more Southern than Northern California Chapter attendees and the bulk of the meeting consisted of updates and announcements for the Southern California chapter. For the handful of Northern California Chapter members in attendance, Kay Teel, Northern California Chapter Secretary/Treasurer, gave a brief summary of the current state of the chapter and the chapter's upcoming plans (TBA) for a spring meeting in May and a fall meeting in early November.

The meeting concluded by recognizing California chapter members presenting at the Salt Lake City conference and two group photographs of the meeting attendees were taken.

Prior to the official chapters meeting, an informal gathering of members from both chapters was held on Tuesday evening, March 26, at Bourbon House, a bar with restaurant-quality food, a few blocks from the Grand America Hotel. The Bourbon House staff were accommodating and friendly to our small group and a pleasant time was had by all!

Salt Lake City, view from Grand America Hotel, ARLIS/NA 2019 conference. iPhone photo by Kay Teel.

California chapters will meet at the ARLIS/NA annual conference

The ARLIS/NA annual conference will be held in Salt Lake City, March 26-30, 2019.
Our chapter will meet jointly with the Southern California chapter on Wednesday, March 27, at 8 a.m. (meeting room TBA).
For more information on the ARLIS/NA conference, visit the website: http://arlisna.org/saltlakecity2019/

Meeting minutes for the November 2018 chapter meeting

ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter met at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga on November 2, 2018. The draft meeting minutes are available here. Thank you to our generous hosts for the meeting: Lauren MacDonald, Saint Mary's College of California, and Saint Mary's College Museum of Art!

(iPhone photo by Kay Teel)

Meeting minutes for the May 2018 chapter meeting at CCA

The meeting minutes for the ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter meeting held at California College of the Arts on May 11, 2018, are now available here. Thank you to all who attended and to CCA for generously hosting our meeting!

ARLIS/NA and VRA Northern CA Chapters Meeting on May 11th at CCA Oakland

Please join the ARLIS/NA and VRA Northern California Chapters for a Spring 2018 meeting on Friday, May 11th from 9:30AM-3:30PM at the Meyer Library at California College of the Arts (CCA) in Oakland: https://libraries.cca.edu/about-us/about-us/spaces/#meyer-library

Current Agenda:

9:30-10:00AM - Meet and Greet

10:00-11:00AM - ARLIS/NA and VRA Northern California Chapters business meetings

11:00-11:15AM - Break

11:15AM-12:00PM - Tour of CCA's Oakland campus, led by Annemarie Haar

12:00-1:30PM - Lunch on your own

1:30-2:00PM - Tour of the library exhibition, Eclipsis, by tamara suarez porras and Sei Harris, led by Lisa Conrad

2:00-3:30PM - Group discussion on approaches to using library materials for studio courses and in artistic practice, led by Teri Dowling and Lisa Conrad.  Please think about examples from your own libraries to add to the discussion.

Transit, Parking and Campus Information:  

The CCA Oakland campus is located at 5212 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94618. It is about a 10-15 minute walk from the Rockridge BART station. Street parking is available around campus. 

Since the CCA semester is over, the campus gates along Broadway may be locked but you may enter campus from Clifton Street, either through the faculty parking lot or other walkways.

Lunch:  

There are lots of options along College Avenue, here are just a few suggestions:

Rikyu (Japanese / Sushi) - 5335 College Ave # 2, Oakland, CA 94618
Fillipos (Italian / Pasta) - 5400 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618
Holy Basil (Vietnamese / Pho) - 5362 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618
Rockridge Cafe (American / Diner) - 5492 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618
Cactus Taqueria - 5642 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618

We look forward to seeing many of you there! Please RSVP by Monday, May 7th by filling out this short form: https://goo.gl/forms/5tCtSgNtIaiVHIIs1. If you have any questions, please contact Abby Dansiger at adansiger@famsf.org or Jason Miller at jnmiller@berkeley.edu.

Meeting minutes for the 2018 ARLIS/NA NYC chapter meeting

The meeting minutes for the ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter meeting held at the 2018 ARLIS/NA Annual Conference in New York City are available here.

Thank you to ARLIS/NA for providing a time slot and venue and to all who attended!

Meeting minutes for the Fall 2017 Chapter meeting at Stanford University

The meeting minutes for the fall 2017 ARLIS/NA Northern California Chapter meeting at the Bowes Art & Architecture Library, Stanford University, can be viewed here.

Thank you to our meeting hosts and to all who attended!

Save the Date! Spring Meeting on May 11, 2018 at CCA in Oakland

Please save the date for our next chapter meeting on Friday, May 11, 2018 at the California College of the Arts Meyer Library in Oakland, CA.

More information about the day's events and a request for RSVPs will be sent out in the coming weeks!