The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library
With
the Word we clothe our ideas.
The
essence of a University - the concentrated breeding ground
of
ideas - is held in trust by its Library.
The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library
With
the Word we clothe our ideas.
The
essence of a University - the concentrated breeding ground
of
ideas - is held in trust by its Library.
In 1968, the Power Research Library of Contemporary Art (PRL) was established as a reference library specialising in twentieth century art. The first acquisitions were made on the advice of Mr Bernard Karpel, the Librarian of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Today, the Schaeffer Fine Arts Library,
completed in May 2000, is one of the leading art libraries in Australia
in terms of the academic quality and breadth of its holdings. It
incorporates the Power Research Library of Contemporary Art, and
specialises
in art and culture of the twentieth and twenty first centuries, works
dealing
with theory, semiotics, philosophy, cultural studies, photography,
media
and film.
The collection comprises over 22,000 books and exhibition catalogues, 4,000 bound journal volumes, a comprehensive Film Studies and Photography Collection, an expansive collection of books on Asian Arts and the Rarebooks and Journal Collection, including valuable catalogues raisonnes, original exhibition catalogues and complete sets of important art journals. The Library also houses an additional 2,000 original honours and higher degree theses and essays archived since 1971; they are the special heritage of the Department of Art History and Theory and add to the unique nature of the collection. The library is increasingly collecting non-book materials such as video and audio cassettes, as well as indexes and exhibition catalogues on CD Rom.
Allen,
Jack & Cottier architects designed the Schaeffer Fine Arts
Library as a synthesis of both modernist and humanist ideals. The
Library's clean-lined formalism and its open structure focuses on the
beauty
of natural light, creating a space that is naturally lit by skylights
along
the generous mezzanine area with occupies the entire Eastern side of
the
Library.
Large Wilkinson-inspired windows overlook the playing fields to the West, where you will find airy individual reading rooms suffused with natural light; each one dedicated to different research areas. The Library epitomises the influence that intellectual curiosity can have on architecture and the reciprocal rewards that beautiful surroundings can exercise on the scholarly mind.
The Schaeffer Fine Arts Library provides open access to University staff and students, members of the Arts community and the general public. As the Collection is a reference collection, borrowing of books and materials is not permitted.
| Semester
Opening Hours
|
||
|
Monday..............9.30
am - 7:00pm
|
Thursday..........9.30 am - 5:00pm | |
|
Tuesday..............9.30
am - 5:00pm
|
Friday................9.30 am - 5:00pm | |
|
Wednesday......9.30
am - 7:00pm
|
||
| Restricted opening hours apply during the University vacations. | ||
The
Schaeffer Fine Arts Library
2nd
Floor, RC Mills Building, A26
Fisher
Road
University
of Sydney
Sydney
NSW 2006
Phone: 9351 2148 Fax : 9351 7624
The Schaeffer Fine
Arts
Library's holdings since 1971 are included in
the University of Sydney
Library's On-line Catalogue which can be accessed via the internet.