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Request for Expressions of Interest

American Craft Council Library & Archives

Minneapolis, MN
October 2024

The American Craft Council (ACC) seeks to partner with another organization or organizations to ensure that the ACC Library and Archives continue to be well-stewarded and become more accessible. While we intend to retain our own institutional archives and certain artists’ files as described below, ACC is inviting Expressions of Interest from organizations and institutions whose missions may be advanced by taking ownership of the other unique materials that comprise the ACC Library and Archives collections. Prospective partners must demonstrate their commitment to preserve and make these materials accessible as a vital and significant information resource for our field.

About the American Craft Council

ACC is a national nonprofit that fosters livelihoods and ways of living grounded in the artful work of the human hand, creating a more joyful, humane, and regenerative world.For more than 80 years, ACC has supported craft artists’ livelihoods and built an audience for craft through educational programs and awards, marketplaces and other events, and publishing and storytelling. Our nationally unique library gained a formalized space when ACC opened the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now known as the Museum of Arts and Design) in 1956, and over the past 68 years, the library has acquired more than 20,000 print resources, four major archives collections, approximately 4000 artist files, and a robust digital collection.In 2023, ACC adopted a restated mission and a strategic plan that prioritizes programs and services for working craft artists, publishing and storytelling as a means to develop a broad audience for the handcrafted, and events that connect artists and appreciators.

Goals and Objectives

ACC is committed to ensuring that the Library and Archives collections become as accessible as possible and remain well-stewarded into the future. To that end, ACC seeks to identify organizations and institutions that:

  1. recognize the value of the Library and Archives to the field of craft;
  2. are pursuing a mission and strategies that are well aligned with the core purposes of the Library and Archives; and
  3. are therefore able to dedicate meaningful organizational capacity to asset preservation, expansion, visibility, and accessibility.

The Collections

Print Collection
The ACC print collection holds approximately 20,000 books, catalogs, and other items focused on contemporary American craft, primarily post-WWII to present. Subjects include all craft media (clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood), as well as adjacent topics such as design, fashion, and architecture. The collection includes monographs, bound serials, exhibition catalogs, and audiovisual recordings. The catalog can be found here.

Special Collections
Special Collections consist of artist files, institutional files, and poster collections. The ACC library holds more than 4,000 artist files on craft artists from around the country, dated from the early 1960s to the present. The artist files consist of ephemera such as announcements, clippings, press releases, photographs, brochures, reviews, invitations, small exhibition catalogs, resumes, slides, and digital files that document the activities of an artist’s career. ACC will retain approximately 380 files of artists who have received awards from ACC, including the ACC College of Fellows, and recipients of our Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship, Emerging Voices Award, and Rare Craft Fellowship. Approximately 4,000 artist files will be available for consideration of dispersal. Records of the artist files may be found in the library catalog.

Institutional files for 580 craft-focused organizations contain ephemera such as newsletters, course catalogs, clippings, announcements, press, mailings, and other materials. A list of the organizations represented is available online.

The Marvin Lipofsky Estate Poster Collection contains 450 posters from exhibitions, conferences, workshops, symposia, and other events involving craft artists. Marvin Lipofsky was a glass artist and a member of the ACC College of Fellows active between 1966 and 2015. The collection is primarily focused on the activities of Lipofsky and other glass artists such as Harvey K. Littleton, Bertil Valien, Dale Chihuly, Dan Dailey, Richard Marquis, Fritz Dreisbach, and Lino Tagliapietra. It also includes posters representing craft artists in other media such as Paul Soldner, Jun Kaneko, Richard Shaw, Sheila Hicks, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos. An inventory spreadsheet is available on request.

Archives

The archives consist of four major and several smaller collections documenting the history of contemporary American craft and individuals and organizations related to craft.ACC will retain the American Craft Council (1940-present) archives and the Museum of Contemporary Crafts / American Craft Museum (1956-1990) archives, as these are the records of the ACC organization.Collections that ACC will consider transferring to partner organization(s) include:

Major Collections

Individuals

Organizations

Expression of Interest Statements

Please include the following information in your Expression of Interest Statement:

  1. Institution name.
  2. Name and contact information of the applicable institution representative.
  3. List of the ACC collection(s), in whole or in part, that are of interest to your institution.
  4. Brief description of your institution, including but not limited to your institution’s history and the audience you serve.
  5. Brief description of your institution’s collections, including but not limited to type of resources, subject areas, number and expertise of personnel responsible for the collections, etc.
  6. Brief description of why you are interested in taking ownership of the ACC collection(s) you listed, and how you intend to use them.

Please submit your Statement by 5:00 p.m. CT on December 6, 2024.
Questions and Statements may be submitted to:

Beth Goodrich, Archivist
American Craft Council
bgoodrich@craftcouncil.org
612-206-3118

Overview of Post-Submission Process

A Task Force comprising ACC trustees and staff will review and evaluate all Expressions of Interest against the goals and objectives stated on page 1. We anticipate selecting a small list of organizations to submit full proposals based on their Expressions of Interest and will work to notify those prospective proposers by the end of calendar year 2024.Submitting an Expression of Interest does not obligate you to submit a proposal, should you be invited to do so.

Frequently asked questions

Partial deaccessioning of the ACC Library & Archives

  • ACC is seeking to partner with another organization or organizations to help us increase access to collections within our Library and Archives, and to ensure that they remain well stewarded for generations to come. We intend to retain our own institutional archives and the artist files of ACC Fellows, Gold Medal for Consummate Craftsmanship recipients, and Emerging Voices and Rare Craft awardees, and to find a new organizational home for the other materials.

    The materials we seek to transfer include books and catalogs, files for artists who have not received the ACC Awards listed above, and the archives for several other individuals and organizations. Prospective partners who are interested in taking ownership of these materials will need to demonstrate a deep commitment to preserving them and making them highly accessible for our field.

    ACC will also seek a new home or homes for a small, varied collection of craft objects we have
    accepted over the decades.

  • In 2023, ACC restated our mission and adopted a strategic plan that prioritizes programs and services for working craft artists, publishing and storytelling as a means to develop a broad audience for the handcrafted, and events that connect artists and appreciators. The parts of the Library and Archives we intend to keep – ACC’s own institutional archives and the files of artists who have received the ACC Awards listed above – are key resources as we implement our strategic plan. For example, our institutional archives contain a wealth of content we will provide to ACC members via a new website with more robust digital storytelling capabilities.

    In finding a new home for the other materials within our Library and Archives, ACC is pursuing three complementary objectives: increase access to our Library and Archives materials, ensure that they remain well stewarded, and reduce occupancy, staffing, and other costs so we can focus our resources on highest priority projects and initiatives. These materials will be of better service to the craft field when they are stewarded by a partner whose mission and strategies center on fostering scholarship and research. The right partner will demonstrate the capacity to preserve and expand library and archives assets, and ensure their visibility and accessibility.

    The space that ACC has rented for our offices and the Library and Archives since moving to Minneapolis in 2010 is not easily accessible, and not visible to the public. It is available by appointment only because of building security and other factors, and very few people visit. By the end of 2024, we will consolidate our offices into less than half the space we currently rent. The new suite will predominantly serve as work and meeting space for staff, most of whom
    work remotely or in hybrid mode. We will also provide a workspace by appointment for researchers who wish to engage with ACC archives onsite. As we reduce our physical footprint and pursue a new strategic plan, it’s the right time to partner with another organization to make key holdings of our Library and Archives as accessible as possible.

  • The strategic plan adopted by the ACC Board of Trustees in 2023 includes an objective to partner with another organization or organizations to ensure that our Library and Archives continue to be well-stewarded and become more accessible for the field while reducing ACC’s financial responsibility for stewardship, operations, and promotion. Roughly one year ago, the board established a Library Stewardship Task Force to work with Executive Director Andrea Specht and Librarian Beth Goodrich to develop and implement a process for achieving this objective. The task force is advisory to the board, which retains ultimate decision-making responsibility for the stewardship and disposition of all ACC assets.

  • As explained above, our objectives are to increase the accessibility of key materials within the Library and Archives and ensure that they remain well stewarded while also reducing ACC’s costs. ACC is not seeking to generate revenue by finding a new home for the materials we are deaccessioning, but proposals that cover shipping costs or other financial considerations will be welcome.

  • ACC plans to invite proposals from a small group of organizations that submit a compelling response to our Request for Expressions of Interest. Our priority is to get the word out to and invite proposals from organizations and institutions that:

    • recognize the value of the Library and Archives to the field of craft;
    • are pursuing a mission and strategies that are well aligned with the core purposes of the Library and Archives; and
    • are therefore able to and ready to dedicate meaningful organizational capacity to asset preservation, expansion, visibility, and accessibility.

    For more information about the Request for Expressions of Interest, please see the answer to Question 7 below.

  • Over the years, donors to ACC have made gifts to an endowment for the Library & Archives that now totals approximately $30,000. ACC will continue to use the endowment’s earnings to help cover staffing, storage, digitization, and other costs we incur to steward ACC’s institutional archives and the files of ACC Award recipients.

  • ACC expects to circulate a Request for Expressions of Interest as widely as possible by October 25, 2024. Recipients (our potential partners) will have until the end of November to submit their responses. Each response must:

    • list the ACC collection(s), in whole or in part, that are of interest to the potential partner
    • Briefly describe the potential partner, including but not limited to its history and the audience it serves
    • Briefly describe the potential partner’s collections, including but not limited to the types of resources, subject areas, number and expertise of personnel responsible for the potential partner’s collections, etc.
    • Briefly describe why the potential partner is interested in taking ownership of the ACC collection(s) listed, and how the potential partner intends to use them

    Our Library Stewardship Task Force will evaluate the responses submitted to our Request for Expressions of Interest and, based on those responses, invite a small group of potential partners to submit a full proposal for the relevant collection(s). The deadline for full proposals is yet to be set. After reviewing full proposals submitted, the task force will make a recommendation to the ACC Board of Trustees regarding the partner(s) selected to receive Library and Archives materials and the relevant terms of the partnership agreement(s).

    The timeline for the transfer of Library and Archive materials will be set in collaboration with the partner(s) we select. In the meantime, the Library and Archives materials for which ACC is seeking a new home will be appropriately packed and stored as ACC prepares to move into the newly configured office space described under Question 2.

    November 15, 2024 will be the last day we will take appointments for in-person access to the current Library and Archives. Once our new office suite is configured, we anticipate offering appointments as requested to view materials within the ACC Archives and the artist files we retain.

  • Yes. We intend to maintain our digital collection and add materials from the ACC Archives to it as we are able.