Alex Alsemgeest appointed as the Rijksmuseum’s Curator of Library Collections
Publication date: 25 February 2021 - 14:00
The Rijksmuseum’s new Curator of Library Collections is Alex Alsemgeest, who will take up his post on 20 September 2021. As an expert in the field of library collections, Alex Alsemgeest has previously worked at numerous renowned libraries in the Netherlands and elsewhere. He succeeds Geert-Jan Koot, who is retiring after 33 years at the museum. In the coming months, Alex Alsemgeest will be working part-time with Geert-Jan Koot and graphic designer Irma Boom on a publication on the books of the Rijksmuseum.
The Rijksmuseum Research Library is one of the museum’s four collection departments, alongside the Fine Arts, History and Print Room departments. It is one of the world’s most important art libraries. From its home in the grand Cuypers Library building, the Rijksmuseum Research Library has since 1885 been continuously expanding its collection of publications that are closely or loosely connected to the collections and the activities of the museum. The core collection of the library is itself worthy of its own museum. The entire collection comprises approximately 450,000 volumes.
We are delighted that Alex Alsemgeest is joining the museum and will be active in the further expansion of the Rijksmuseum Research Library collection. Alex, with his international experience and extensive network in the field of art history, is an important addition to the curatorial team.
Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum
It is a great privilege to be able to work in one of the most important art libraries in the world, and to further develop the collection in support of the work being carried out inside and outside the museum. The library’s expansive collection lends itself exceptionally well to the telling of stories from a variety of perspectives.
Alex Alsemgeest
Alex Alsemgeest (b. 1980) studied History at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University and Digital Media Studies at Leiden University. He has worked on the opening up of the collections of the National Library of the Netherlands (KB) and numerous other institutions, and was previously attached to Uppsala University, the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, and Trinity College Dublin. Alsemgeest will remain connected with Trinity College Library until August 2021, as the leader of a joint project with the KB.
Geert-Jan Koot (b. 1955) is bidding farewell to the Rijksmuseum after 33 years, having been Head of the Rijksmuseum Research Library since 1988. In this role, he was an important figure in the art library landscape, domestically and internationally. In 2016 he became the Rijksmuseum’s first Curator of the Library Collections, a new position arising from the merger of the Rijksmuseum Research Library, the Information Collection department and the Reading Room to form the Research Services department. Before joining the Rijksmuseum, Geert-Jan Koot worked at Museum Boijmans-Van Beuningen and the Institute for the History of Art at the University of Amsterdam.
For more information about the Rijksmuseum Research Library, please visit: https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/
