In Rethinking the Museum, Stephen E. Weil gathers a series of essays on what museums are for, who they serve, and what responsibilities come with collecting, displaying, interpreting, preserving and deaccessioning objects.

Moving between practical museum ethics and larger philosophical questions, Weil considers museums not as neutral storehouses but as active public institutions: places where value is made, withheld, contested and rearranged. This is a sharp, thoughtful book for anyone interested in curating, public history, cultural institutions, archives, collections, heritage, art, education, and the strange business of deciding what deserves to survive. Very useful for readers thinking about museums as systems rather than temples.

1990 Smithsonian Institution paperback. Good used condition, with light cover wear and mild age-toning to pages. Clean internally, with firm binding.