Before ARLIS/NA, art librarians organized under an American Library Association Round Table. However, ALA support was limited. Meetings were only held biannually, attendance was minimal, and professional progress slow. During the post-war years the world had opened up, and through the influence of popular magazines like Time (magazine) and Life (magazine), Americans were exposed to a range of cultures. According to Wolfgang Freitag, “Hundreds of new museums and libraries were built every year…there was an explosion of publications in the traditional formats on all subjects.” All of these developments led to the very real need for art librarians to organize.