July 22, 2008-- The Birmingham Museum of Art's Clarence B. Hanson, Jr. Library is pleased to announce that its library catalog is now accessible online at http://bma.kohalibrary.com.

This will be the very first time that the Library's collection has been available online. "Our curators and other staff members are very excited about being able to access the library catalog from their desks, homes, and when traveling," says Tatum Preston, Birmingham Museum of Art Librarian. "I hope the public will also use our new catalog as a resource."

The Clarence B. Hanson, Jr. Library is one of the most comprehensive art research libraries in the southeastern United States. Library holdings include over 35,000 items focusing on objects and styles in the Museum's permanent collection and traveling exhibitions, including general art reference works, auction catalogues, artists' files, periodicals, indexes, exhibition catalogs, and databases. The Chellis Wedgwood Collection, housed in the Lucille Stewart Beeson Rare Book Room, is the largest and most comprehensive special collection in the world related to Josiah Wedgwood and his manufactures, and makes the Library the U.S. center for the study of Wedgwood.

Due to the unique nature of many items in the Library's collection, patrons may only use materials on the premises. A photocopier is available. The Library is open to the public Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, and may be contacted at 205.254.2565 x3944 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Birmingham Museum of Art is one of three museums across the U.S. to choose an open-source library catalog software program called Koha in the last three months. Koha is appealing to non-profits because it offers lots of features and functionality at a very reasonable price. To learn more about the Koha project, visit http://koha.org. Koha is supported by LibLime, the global leader in open-source solutions for libraries, with a mission to make open source accessible to libraries. For more information, see http://liblime.com or contact Tina Burger, LibLime Vice President of Marketing at 888.564.2457 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .