Herron's new Art + Design Librarian Jackie Huddle to carry on legacies and forge new paths

By: Christiane Wisehart

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Herron Art and Design Librarian Jackie Huddle smiles behind the checkout counter in the Herron art library, which is covered in colorful figurines and knick-knacks — Herron Art + Design Librarian Jackie Huddle Image by Christiane Wisehart

The art library has been an integral part of Herron School of Art and Design almost from the beginning of the school's history. Since 1906, students and faculty have used the library as a source of inspiration, as a place to dive into art history, or as a tranquil spot to put the finishing touches on an assignment. Jackie Huddle, formerly a visual literacy and resources librarian at Indiana University Libraries, was recently appointed Herron's Art + Design Librarian after Sonja Lehman's recent retirement. Huddle is excited to honor and contribute to the library's storied legacy.

HERRON: Tell us a little bit about your academic background.

JACKIE HUDDLE: I got my undergraduate degree in English and then realized no one was going to pay me to read books [laughs]. I had a really great professor who told me that I should think about library school—I didn't even know you could go to library school! I was accepted into the iSchool at the University of Illinois.

I've always loved art, so I got a graduate hourly position at the Ricker Library of Architecture and Art and just fell in love with the idea of art librarianship. I had a really incredible boss who is now the Dean of Special Collections at the Art Institute of Chicago and was so generous with her knowledge and experience.

The Ricker Library was a branch in an older building with a lot of history to it and I fell in love with being in this cozy library that was specific to art and art library patrons. I just knew those creative, unique, and eclectic souls that would come into our library were my people.

When I graduated from the iSchool, I knew I wanted to get back to that experience of the art library and be an art librarian. I got a job at IU Bloomington as the visual literacy and resources librarian. A huge part of that job was assisting the art librarian. That was a super positive experience because the art librarian Sarah Carter is also very generous with her knowledge, and I got to do a lot of teaching with her. She and I worked with artists' books, and I even started to do a little bit of teaching with artists' books and nursing.

Herron Art + Design Librarian Jackie Huddle opens Julie Chen's *Chrysalis*, one of many artists' books by Chen in Herron's expansive Fine Press and Artists' Book collection. Image by Christiane Wisehart

HERRON: Your predecessor Sonja Lehman left quite a legacy in terms of a large and distinctive collection of artists' books at the Herron Art Library. Do you plan to carry on this legacy?

JACKIE HUDDLE: Absolutely I plan to carry it on. In the world of art librarianship, which is small, this library is very well known for its artists' book collection. It is definitely a place on the map for art librarians.

A lot of my time is going to be focused on learning the collection and getting a feel for the artists that we have in the collection and the themes that are represented in their works. I will say I'm an easily excitable person, so I'm also excited to shop for the collection. I think a lot of what I'll be investigating will be questions like "What materials would help deversify our collection? What artists, historical periods, subjects, and themes are our instructors interested in?"

I want to get feedback from folks because this is, in my mind, a teaching collection. Herron has a minor in book arts, and I want the titles that we have to be of interest to book arts classes and faculty. I will be trying to get feedback from the faculty here about which artists they like, which artists they think we should have, and who they are talking about in their classes. All of that is going to be valuable information for me on how to expand the collection.

I always have the goal of making a more diverse collection. I also want to include topics that are relevant. I mean we are a library and I'm passionate about freedom of speech, so I want us to have topics that we all care about and are part of our lives in 2025.

I’d also like to continue to collect faculty and student work. I am so fascinated by the history of Herron and I want to continue to invest in the work of artists who have been a part of the school. I will be relying on the awesome people here who are so knowledgeable about the history of Herron.

HERRON: Do you have a vision for your tenure at Herron?

JACKIE HUDDLE: I’ve thought about this a lot because I was beyond thrilled when I got the job. My biggest goal is to get people in the library. It is such a gift that our library is located in one of Herron's buildings because we need to be closer to our people and we need to know what their interests are.

I think that the instruction and curriculum development skills I have could be an asset to instructors at the school, so I envision hopefully a lot of classes coming into the library and maybe incorporating the library into assignments.

I hope to get even more art in the library, including student installations. I’d also love to bring more people in with events like artist talks and even workshops. I want the library to be lively and used.

HERRON: It’s always fun to see students working on their projects in the library, and it has such a different vibe from other libraries.

JACKIE HUDDLE: That's exactly what I want: for the library to be geared towards the school. I want students in here working on projects!

Herron School of Art + Design

Herron's new Art + Design Librarian Jackie Huddle to carry on legacies and forge new paths

Recent stories

Eskenazi Hall, 735 W. New York Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202