Contact
maglibinfo@mag.rochester.edu
585.276.8999
Hours
Holiday Hours: The library is open by appointment only from November 27 to January 17
To make an appointment, fill out our online form
Please note that the library wheelchair lift is currently out of order. We are working to get this fixed as fast as possible!
Looking for information on a favorite artist or an art-related topic? Stop by one of the region’s most extensive visual arts libraries. Since MAG opened in 1913, its library has served area art-lovers. Today, the Charlotte Whitney Allen Library is open to the public for browsing and research, and to MAG members, UR students, faculty & staff, PreK–12 & homeschool teachers, and current Creative Workshop students for borrowing.
We offer books and media for adults and children, on such topics as:
- art history and technique
- museum studies
- local artists
- works in MAG’s collections
- MAG institutional history
The library is open to the public for research and browsing purposes. To make an appointment to visit the library outside of public hours, call the library’s information desk at 585.276.8999, or email maglibinfo@mag.rochester.edu.
The museum’s archival material may be accessed by researchers by arrangement via the Charlotte Whitney Allen Library. Currently digitized items can be accessed at the New York Heritage website. The accessible collections of the archives include:
- Exhibition catalogues and files
- Index of artists who have exhibited at MAG from 1913 to the present
- MAG publications and annual reports
- Files from the various departments of MAG
- Scrapbooks created by MAG Staff
- Posters of past MAG events
- Photographic material of artists and MAG events
- Audio and video tapes
- Oral histories from MAG staff and artists
- Fritz Trautmann notebooks
Due to MAG’s central role in the arts in Rochester, the archives collection also includes information on many local artists and arts organizations, including the:
- Rochester Art Club
- Print Club of Rochester
- Arena Art Group
- Rochester International Salon of Photography