3 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 300 2020 Introduction Mary Lee Kennedy, Executive Director, Association of Research Libraries This time of accentuated interdependence and acute awareness of a historical moment calls on galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) to respond together and to lead forward. Memory institutions are unique trusted stewards of time. When humanity experiences a global event such as the current pandemic, our institutions are grounded in the moment, and in their role throughout history told and yet to come. In this issue of Research Library Issues we offer three articles that reflect on the value of GLAM collaborations as well as the voices of institutional leaders looking at the opportunities for even greater collaboration as we work through history in the making. Eerily familiar today, the article by Guy Berthiaume, Librarian and Archivist of Canada Emeritus, looks back at a time of economic uncertainty when GLAM collaboration was essential to creating a new narrative for GLAM institutions, and to quantifying their economic contribution to society. In 2014 the Canadian federal government announced a large investment in cultural institutions, which would become the largest investment in cultural institutions in Canadian history between 2015 and 2020. No funding was included for the GLAM community. In response, the Library and Archives Canada and the Canadian Museums Association held a summit and there the national collaboration began. 2020 represents the end of the first phase of collective work of the Canadian GLAM sector and a time in which the sector can build on the progress they made to change the narrative and demonstrate their economic value. Both goals seem incredibly relevant today. This time of accentuated interdependence and acute awareness of a historical moment calls on galleries, libraries, archives, and museums to respond together and to lead forward.
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