The Contemporary Artists' Books Conference (CABC) was started in 2008 by a volunteer group of librarians belonging to the New York Chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NY).
[2] Initiated in 2008 by a volunteer committee of art librarians from the New York area, the Contemporary Artists' Book Conference held its first conference at the Museum of Modern Art with a keynote interview of Hans-Ulrich Obrist interviewing Joseph Grigely & Rirkrit Tiravanija.
[3] James Mitchell, formerly of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Jennifer Tobias, Milan Hughston and David Senior of the Museum of Modern Art Library; Deirdre Donohue and Matthew Carson of the International Center of Photography; Ryan Haley of the New York Public Library; Deirdre Lawrence of the Brooklyn Museum Library; and Tony White of the Maryland Institute College of Art.
In addition to organizing the annual conference, CABC's planning committee commissions a new artists’ book as part of its program.
Previously commissioned artists include James Hoff, Eve Fowler, Dexter Sinister, David Horvitz, Triin Tamm and Emily Roysdon, and the “assembled magazine” Adventures, produced by Aaron Flint Jamison.