Midway Contemporary Art Library in Minneapolis, Minnesota

…is worth a visit if you are in Minneapolis – and where I went today – with an extensive collection non-circulating books, periodicals, and videos open to the public, and just one part of this non-profit art center which also includes exhibitions, publications, events, and education – more information on their website…

About the Library: The Midway Contemporary Art Library serves to document, present, and preserve the recent history of contemporary visual art in a public context. Founded in 2007, its objectives are to research, collate, and catalog published material in an effort to provide the most comprehensive and accessible resource for research into contemporary art in the region. A non-circulating collection, the library contains thousands of titles from a wide range of publishers from around the world. While group exhibition catalogs and monographs form the core of the library’s collection, the library also contains reference material, a selection of artist books, DVD’s, and an extensive selection of periodicals and journals. We are currently subscribed to a number of monthly and quarterly publications.

Using the Collection: The library is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm. If you wish to use the library outside of these hours, please contact us to make special arrangements. The library is maintained and run by a dedicated group of volunteers and interns who will be glad to assist you. It is a non-circulating facility; all library materials must stay in the library. The library’s holdings are organized according to two systems: Monographs are arranged by artist’s last name, and all other books are arranged by Library of Congress call numbers. You may come in and browse, or use our online search to find a specific volume.

Donate Books: We are always looking for new and exciting volumes to add to our library’s collection. We welcome book donations, but ask that you please contact us before donating books to see if they are what we currently need. We also encourage you to donate books through our amazon.com wish list.

Book Club: Midway has a book club, which meets every month to discuss fiction, art books, or anything else they choose. More about the book club…

Exchange Program: We welcome the opportunity to establish catalog exchanges with other publishing institutions. If you would like to set up a regular exchange, please contact the library. You can also see a list of institutions currently exchanging titles with Midway.