The Fleet Library at Rhode Island School of Design is the recipient of a $50,000 National Forum Grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS) to hold a symposium titled Materials Education and Research in Art and Design: A New Role for Libraries. From June 6-8, 2013, this unprecedented summit will convene international stakeholders, including artists, architects and designers, educators, researchers and librarians, to focus on the resources and documentation that are required to prepare art and design students for knowledgeable, responsible, and innovative use of materials in their professional work. Participants, including designers in the field, will speak to the current practical and expansive needs for information about materials; in addition faculty now teaching in art and design institutions will articulate the support they need to develop and collect material knowledge and share it to their students. Librarians in the process of building collections and databases of material samples will also be on hand to speak to the issues they have encountered. Respondents and other participants from Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) schools with materials collections, as well as faculty and librarians from these and other AICAD schools and university art and architecture programs at non-AICAD institutions will attend the forum. The symposium includes an evening keynote and reception, a day of sessions, and a half-day workshop. A white paper will serve as a record of the symposium and a guiding resource for the creation and development of materials collections.