Canada’s primary art libraries, centres of excellence by virtue of their specialized collections in Canadian art and architecture, support a readership geographically beyond their primary clientele. They have come about through the individual commitment of librarians or subject specialists, not because of institutional commitment. Consequently, many lack an appropriate share of institutional support and are threatened by shrinking government funding at all levels. Art librarians are isolated from each other, which makes it easier for institutional administrators to be unaware of their ranking among art history libraries, to impede the sharing of collections, and to ignore the potential for adding prestige to the institution through support of centres of excellence.