Diaries, letters, commonplace books, marginal notes, visual and inventory evidence all speak to the possession of books by the middling sort in the 18th century and the presence of books in their homes. But how can this knowledge be translated into acquisitions for the museum and how should the stories of these books be told? How do museum displays and interpretation move beyond the fact of possession to uncover and represent the histories of readers, their engagement with texts, and the variety of historical reading habits?

This article illuminates the processes involved in curating exhibitions at the Saison Poetry Library at the Southbank Centre. The aim is to be of use to those exhibiting, or considering exhibiting artworks in public library or museum spaces. The article also considers the relationship between textual and visual art, drawing upon a number of exhibitions that have taken place at the Poetry Library since 2007.

The historical importance of carpet design and manufacture to the West of Scotland is now largely forgotten, eclipsed by heavy industries such as shipbuilding for which Glasgow is justly famous. Yet, in their heyday, carpet manufacturers A. F. Stoddard of Elderslie, Renfrewshire and James Templeton of Glasgow Green provided employment for thousands of workers. Indeed, by the 1950s Templeton was Glasgow’s largest single employer. For decades the companies supplied carpets to the world’s ocean liners, heads of state, royalty, corporations and state institutions, yet in 2005 the combined companies filed for bankruptcy. This paper describes efforts to save and interpret the historical collections, principally concentrating on the design library now held at the Glasgow School of Art. It follows a recent research project, exhibition and publication that explored the development of the Library and its use within the design process.

The Museum der Arbeit (Museum of Work) in Hamburg, Germany, took over the collections of the remarkable Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken (Reemtsma Tobacco Co.) almost exactly ten years ago. The traditional, German-owned international company had established and maintained a comprehensive cultural-historical collection during their approximately hundred years of trading. The collections include photographic archives, advertisement and product archives, as well as the historical tobacco collection with various library holdings. What treasures of our cultural heritage are bound to be discovered? How can we sufficiently document and research collection holdings this complex and varied in a museum?

This article looks at what uses a slide collection developed for teaching art and design history to students in art schools in the UK could possibly still have now that lecture theatres have ‘gone digital’. As more and more slide collections are disposed of, part 2 of the article (to be published in ALJ 39.4) also asks UK librarians to consider preserving at least one exemplar slide library for the benefit of researchers in the future.

Changes in the format, design and content of museum and art gallery exhibition catalogues can be traced to the visibility and popularity of these souvenirs for the block-buster exhibitions of the 1970s. The increased museum revenue from these book sales and the need, perceived by the publishers recruited to museum staff from a trade background, to address the interests of a more diverse audience are identified as the two main instigators of these changes. The resulting exhibition catalogues play down the scholarly apparatus, offer more images particularly to enhance the reader’s contextual understanding and, in some cases, ameliorate the academic register of the writing. The uses made of exhibition books by institutions, their associated sponsors and museum visitors is commented on.