The library collects publications on art and culture policy and the social aspects of art and culture, with an emphasis on the Netherlands and Europe. The collection contains more than 85,000 titles.

In addition to books and journals, the collection also includes policy documents, parliamentary documents, reports, dissertations, theses, statistics, newspaper clippings, public surveys and journal articles. Most of the collection is digitally available. If copyright-free, digital documents can also be consulted at home.

In the library you will find information about: amateur art, copyright, archeology policy, archive policy, architecture policy, visual art policy, library policy, cultural labor market, cultural participation, cultural diversity, cultural management, cultural participation, cultural tourism, creative industry, heritage policy, film policy, international cultural policy, art education, art criticism , art management, art and culture sponsorship, art and economics, artists, art education, literature policy, monument policy, museum policy, music policy, performing arts policy, theater policy and much more.

The library participates in the network of Amsterdam libraries AdamNet.

Consult the extensive collection of books, magazines and digitized documents in our reading room. Which is freely accessible by appointment.

Make an appointment to visit the library on your desired date and time from Monday to Thursday between 10.00 and 17.00. You will receive a response from us as soon as possible.

• It is possible to make an inquiry to study the whole day or several days.
• Books can be handed in all week at the desk in the reading room or at the secretariat.
• In some cases when the room is occupied, a workplace is available to consult the catalog.

Please note: If you want to visit the library on Monday, please send an e-mail at the latest on Thursday before 16.00.

Titles in the library collection can be found in two ways: via the website and via the (external) internet catalogue.

On the website
With the search function on the website you can easily discover the library collection. The catalogue is updated weekly.

You can search easily in the library collection using the free search, or search by a word from the title, on (the surname of the) author or by subject (keyword). For the moment the key words are in Dutch. The key words are part of a thesaurus created by the information specialists of the Boekman Foundation. We are working on a translation of the Dutch keywords.

Use the list of translationed terms to see which Dutch terms you can use.

To find more information on a title you can click on it. You are directed to the external internet catalogue where you can find more detailed information.

External internet catalogue
The internet catalogue contains the most current titles and offers more search options.

Go to the external catalogue

Books and reports can be borrowed. In order to borrow, registration is required, a personal identification document and an address validation (for example a bank statement) is necessary.

The loan fee is € 1.00 per book for a period of 4 weeks. A maximum of 7 books can be borrowed at a time. Borrowed books can be extended a maximum of 2 times. This can be done by e-mail or telephone +31 20 624 37 36.

Magazines are not available to lent. You can make photocopies, a copy card is available for € 2.50 at the library desk.

For sending copies or prints you pay € 5.00 for the first five pages. Each subsequent page costs € 1.00. This amount does not include postage. For requests accompanied by an invoice we ask € 3.50 administration costs.

If you hand in material too late, we charge € 0.25 per title per day. For lost titles we ask for a fee for the replacement of the material, with a minimum of € 20 per title. A € 10.00 administration fee will be charged. If necessary, we may engage a collection agency. For lending material by mail we charge postage costs and € 3.50 administration costs.

The library collection contains many dissertations and theses about art and culture policy or about social aspects of art and culture. We would also like to include your thesis or dissertation.

Master’s theses (preferably digital) are always included in the collection; Bachelor’s theses only after consultation. We would like to include dissertations in our field in the collection.

Dissertations at Dutch universities that highlight the social context and the administrative environment of art and culture may also qualify for participation in the Boekman Dissertation Award for Art, Culture and Policy. The prize, an initiative of the Boekman Foundation in collaboration with the department of humanities of the NWO, is awarded every three years to the best Dutch PhD research on art, culture and society.