The something that you're looking for, 2008. Acrylic on canvas.16" x 18"Wendy Heldmann lives and works in Los Angeles, a city where many exist in a constant state of earthquake awareness. She has created two striking series of works, of course and never and barricades + libraries, that take the orderly world of the library and turn it upside down.We just keep taking turns, 2008. Acrylic on canvas. 24" x 20" Heldmann's post-disaster world is void of humanity. The books are rearranged naturally, landing and resting wherever the last tremor or collapse leave them. A striking reminder of the underlying...
The Death of a Book Collector
On July 31st Irwin Toby Holtzman, one of the more prominent book collectors and library supporters of the second half of the twentieth-century, passed away. Over the years Holtzman built numerous collections and the fruits of his labor can be found in 15 libraries around the world.Here's a sampling of a few of his collections and where they now live:-The University of Michigan received his William Faulkner collection.-The British Library received his John Osborne collection.-The University of Illinois received his American Indian collection.-He donated the greatest collection in private hands in the world of Boris Pasternak, Joseph Brodsky, in addition...
Library Graffiti
In the summer of 2007 Quinn Dombrowski started documenting the graffiti she encountered on her visits to the Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago. She began posting the images on Flickr and by 2009 she had amassed a collection of over 700 pieces of graffiti.In the summer of 2009 the project got helped along by a story on Jacket Copy, the book blog of the Los Angeles Times, and by the time time the year was out Quinn published Crescat Graffiti, Vita Excolatur: Confessions of the University of Chicago, a book containing many of the highlights of the collection.The...
California’s Budget Drought Threatens Water Archive
The Library budget-slashing epidemic of 2010 shows no signs of letting up. Seems not a day goes by without news of some incredibly difficult challenge facing a library due to a budget shortfall.The Contra Costa Times is reporting that California's seminal water history archive that is housed at the University of California in Berkeley is in danger of being moved or broken up due to budget issues.Founded in 1958 by a special act of California Legislature the Water Resources Center Archive consists of a library which houses 120 years of material in a variety of formats including a strong web-based...
Australian Library’s Exhibit Is Unbearably Cute
Blinky Bill Made His Debut In 1933, And Has Been The Best Pal Of Australian Kids Ever Since.Wall, Dorothy, 1894-1942. Blinky Bill : the quaint little Australian / story and decorations by Dorothy Wall. (Sydney : Angus & Robertson, 1940).(Image Courtesy Of Monash University Library.)For American kids, it's Curious George or The Cat In The Hat. For English kids it's Peter Rabbit. But for Australian kids the most beloved mischief-maker in children's literature is a koala named Blinky Bill. A new exhibit at Australia's Monash University Library highlights the boy-like bear (okay, koala's aren't really bears but you get the...