I read it for the pictures…

At a workshop on FileMaker Pro this weekend with its founder, I learned about Brooklyn’s Reanimation Library, which collects out-of-mainstream-circulation books for their visual content.

I was reminded of my senior year as an art major, when I’d loiter around my library’s annual sale and wind up with more books than I needed, ostensibly to be used as art supplies or occasionally enjoyed for their illustrations.  I was thinking, “maybe this is a good way to get rid of some of these books I’m clearly never going to use”, but turns out the Reanimation Library already has one of them!

Yup, the 1974 Red Cross publication Lifesaving, with graphic, two-tone lineart; I knew I had good taste!  I do notice a lack of books on Hopi kachina dolls though, so might still have a few books worth donating…

I love this idea tremendously, and their site is great fun, with scanned images from lots of their books and information on in-house events that reanalyze libraries and their collections, and  temporary, far-flung branches that function as combination libraries and galleries.

Their items are marked based on how they were acquired, and Secondhand Stores are a popular option.  Which is all to say that tomorrow is Pratt Institute‘s library book sale, at the Brooklyn campus library from 10am to 6pm.  As an art school library, I’m sure visually interesting books are a forte…

A Trained Librarian in Training

Say hello to the snazzy new blog for my snazzy new professional website!  I still have lots of content to add to the site, but I wanted to roll it out so I could start with the blogging.  Expect tales from my own library and art adventures as well as random things I find interesting that seem at all relevant…

Copyright Sarah McIntyre

Let’s kick things off with this adorable poster created by Sarah McIntyre out of London for the Mass Lobby of Parliament for School Libraries back in 2012, asking for each British school to have a library run by a trained librarian.  Since then, McIntyre put the illustration up for free download on her blog, so anyone in similar straits can make use of it!

McIntyre is a published children’s book illustrator, so a good role model for me on my quest to become a combo librarian-cartoonist…  Her website includes free activity sheet downloads from her books and lots of great comics, including autobio and travel comics.

China Comic, Copyright Sarah McIntyre