Library of Dust is a haunting photographic odyssey by David Maisel. The work depicts individual copper canisters, each containing the cremated remains of patients from the Oregon State Hospital. The patients died at the hospital between 1883 (the year the facility opened, when it was called the Oregon State Insane Asylum) and the 1970’s. All have remained unclaimed by their families.How did the title come about?During Maisel's first visit to the hospital a "young male prisoner in a blue jumpsuit, with his feet planted firmly outside the doorway, leans his upper body into the room, scans the cremated remains, and...
Saudi Arabian Library Opens its Doors to Women
On August 4th, 2008 women in the Saudi coastal city of Dammam were able to use its library for the first unaccompanied.Until then they had to be "escorted by a male relative," said the library's director, Saad al-Harithi."It is a safe place for everyone, and especially for women, who use a special area just for them," al-Harithi said.The next steps says al-Harithi is "to create sections for children, to introduce them to literature."Well, maybe the Olympics are next. Currently the Saudi government bans Saudi women from participating in any major sporting event!Saudi Activist Wajeha al-Huwaider created this video in protest...
Arthur Jaffe Shows Off His Book Arts Collection
The Arthur & Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts at Florida Atlantic University houses one of the best book art collections in the country.Connie Ogle has a great piece in The Miami Herald, "A new leaf: Revising the way we think about books and reading", on Jaffe and the collection.The collection has grown to some 12,000 items and offers "a dizzying array of subject matter and form."Commenting on the collection and the unique place book arts occupy in special collections, William Miller, director of FAU libraries, says ''It's a very unusual collection. It expands the concept of what a book...
The Living Library is Coming to America
The Living Library was born in Copenhagen in 2000. It was started by 5 kids who, after one of them was stabbed during a night out, decided to do something "to raise awareness and use peer group education to mobilise danish youngsters against violence".There have been countless Living Library events in Europe since and in 2006 a permanent Living Library was established in Lismore, Australia, where on the first Friday of every month people can come and check out "living books".The premise:"Borrow a person you normally would think you would not like. We have a wide selection of unpopular stereotypes....
The 25 Most Modern Libraries in the World
Library of Picture Books in Iwaki City. Designed by Tadao AndoThe folks at BestCollegesOnline.com have put together a list of the 25 most modern libraries in the world.The list is divided into three sections; architecture, technology and innovation, and digitial collections. The libraries are listed in no particular order.Here are their choices and comments:Architecture Library of Picture Books in Iwaki City of Fukushima Prefecture: This library challenges the old ideas of what a library space should be. Integrated into the landscape with beautiful views from almost everywhere, this library is bright, airy and free from the stodginess that infects many...