Live Bibliographies : documenting the reserach project

Back in summer 2009 we approached the performance poet Charlie Weinberg (Joyful Noise) to collaborate with the librarians for an upcoming library event. We wanted noise, we wanted movement, we wanted energy. We wanted the library to come alive and prove that the role of research, libraries, and archives can be vital attributes in exploring artistic practices.

In December Charlie began a comprehensive research project, exploring the library and archives and working with the librarians to fully engage with the resource. Progress Reports: art in an era of cultural diversity is the current exhibition by Iniva at Rivington Place; a group exhibition exploring the interpretations of cultural diversity in the arts. Charlie's performance was scheduled as the library response to this exhibition.

The Stuart Hall Library collections focus on contemporary international visual artists as well as British artists from culturally diverse backgrounds. The library and archive is a collection of artists that remain somewhat invisible, celebrating new art histories and providing contextual resources and a framework of cultural theory to postion these artistic practices within social and political discourse.

In other words: the Stuart Hall Library is absolutely vital in the discussion of cultural diversity in the arts and this time we wanted to do more than simply produce a comprehensive bibliography in support of this exhibition and accompanying public programme.

Live Bibliographies: Performing the Text is the Stuart Hall Library's first experience of a live performance event which may seem odd given its artistic setting and its original design to facilitate live events. Libraries across all sectors are providing public events in their library space such as music performances, live theatre, talks and seminars, play sessions, workshops, comedy, poetry and spoken word. This is a new venture for the Stuart Hall Library and a new audience for Iniva as we aimed to promote the event to the spoken word and poetry community.

The research process was one of the most engaging and exciting projects I've been involved with at the Stuart Hall Library. It was interesting to view the library through someone else's eyes and being faced with questions such as 'Why do you classify the books like that?' 'Why aren't there more books like this?' 'Why don't you own anything by [enter artist's name here]' What makes this an archive?'

At the start of the project I compiled a basic bibliography covering the history of Iniva, showing examples of cultural diversity policy, and also examples of exhibitions and artists as an introduction to the scope of the upcoming exhibition. Charlie used this bibliography as a map, weaving her way around the library. Each listed item inspired a new set of questions, and for each item retrieved there was always some nearby book or journal to serendipitously stumble upon to start a new trail off the beaten track.

The majority of the poems comissioned in this project were written within the library as Charlie was influenced by specific texts. As time progressed and the exhibition became open to the public, Charlie was able to respond to specific pieces within the exhibition, retreating to the library just a few minutes later. The pieces were written over the 3 months, some in relation to orignal project brief given by the librarians, some in relation to specific artists and texts, some in direct response to the Progress Reports exhibtion.

After the initial research period and once the poems had begun to take shape, Charlie began to explore ways in which the library space could be used for this performance and how to make this Live Bibliography come alive. Charlie went back to the idea of the bibliography as a map and her initial idea was to attach threads to the shelves, creating a tangled web of links across the library collection. Another idea was for Charlie to perform the poems while moving through the library, so that members of the audience were invited to view and/or follow Charlie's path through the library shelves.

In relation to working on the aesthetic of the performance, Charlie began to collaborate with artist Trevor Mathison who created a series of visual pieces from photographs taken by Charlie in the library specifically for the performance. These images reflected some of the materials used for research including images from books and journals selected by Charlie. The original bibliography included texts focusing on cultural diversity policy such as the Arts Council reports Towards Cultural Diversity (1992) and Whose Heritage? The Impact of Cultural Diversity on Britain's Living Heritage (2000) . Charlie isolated key words and phrases from these reports, including dictionary definitions of particular key words which were then incorporated into a visual piece created by Trevor to support the live poetry performance.

The collaboration with Trevor added a new dimension to the work, incorporating audio and visual responses to the pieces. The use of an audio visual display in response to the poems defined the use of the space for performance with Charlie to appear agains the backdrop of projected images. However Charlie still aimed to add movement to the performance demonstrating the full use of the library space, which has been utilised in particular for one poem aptly titled Library.

Live Bibliographies takes place this Saturday 20th February 2:30pm in the Stuart Hall Library. For information about the event please visit the library website. To book a free place at the event please contact bookings@rivingtonplace.org 020 7749 1240.

Full documentation of this event will appear both in the library collections as well as online. We will be updating the blog post-performance with images and links to audio visual recordings of the performance.

Your library needs you!

Help us build an interactive bibliography with your suggested library materials.

Progress Reports: art in an era of diversity explores and interrogates cultural diversity in the arts in the last 15 years. During the exhibition we are asking all visitors to the Stuart Hall Library to help us build an interactive bibliography composed of your suggestions of library materials.

We want to know:



• What library materials have influenced your research and/or practice.?

• What materials are relevant to you in regards to interrogating/exploring/documenting the topic of cultural diversity?

• What artists and examples of their work in this library have been particularly informative or outstanding?


Your suggestions can be a book, an article, a journal, a person from our artist files, an exhibition catalogue, a monograph, a report, an image, a talk/event, a film, a resource pack, a thesis/dissertation – anything at all from the Stuart Hall Library resource! Please send us your suggested titles with a brief note and comments explaining its importance to you.

You can find out what we have in our library resource by searching our online catalogue

To take part and submit your suggestions for the bibliography you can:

• Fill our a form and hand it into a member of library staff
• Email your suggestions library@iniva.org
• Or leave your suggestions and comments in the comment box for this blog post.


Your contributions will be added to our bibliography and will help us build a working bibliography for the Iniva public with a display of these selected materials throughout the exhibition.

Building Bibliographies

It is the last week of installation before Iniva's exhibition
Progress Reports: art in an era of diversity previews Wednesday 27th January, and the library is coming alive!

As part of the public programme the library is working with performance poet Joyful Noise in a research project culminating in a unique live performancein the library Saturday 20th February. Joyful Noise (aka Charlie Weinberg) has been working with the librarians researching the work of Iniva, looking through the archives,and exploring themes of cultural diversity. Her journey through the library has taken her from Arts Council reports, to the works of Ghada Amer, from articles by Eddie Chambers to works by Zarina Bhimji. Charlie is weaving and threading her own unique map through the library collections and creating poems accompanied by an audiovisual presentation in collaboration with artist Trevor Mathison.

Charlie has been documenting her research project so far and here is a sneak peek into her library experience.

The Iniva archive



Inside the archive



Exploring the library stacks


Ghada Amer's exhibition catalogues


States of Exchange,Iniva 2008.


The Ghost of Songs: The art of the Black Audio Film Collective, Liverpool University Press 2007.


The Unmapped Body:3 Black British Artists, Yale University Art Gallery, 1999


Sonia Boyce exhibition information


Redwhiteblue: Here/There/Everywhere, MCCM Creations 2005.



Let the canvas come to life with dark faces, Herbert Art Gallery 1990.


Books waiting to be catalogued


Charlie is working with the librarians to compile all the resources used in the research project and final performance as part of an ongoing bibliography which will be available to view online.

While the Stuart Hall Library is a fantastic and unique resource vital to Iniva's exploration of cultural diversity, it is by no means a definitive collection. Charlie's research is now beginning to broach the topic of the missing voices/texts/ histories from the library and is questionning the gaps in the collection as a means of questionning the missing voices in the wider exploration of cultural diversity. Throughout the exhibition and during Charlie's research and performance project, we are inviting our library visitors to engage with the representation of cultural diversity within the library collections. While the librarians continue to work with Charlie we will explore together examples of the voices and histories missing from this library and will be encouraging all members of the public to do the same.

Throughout the exhibition we will be compiling an annotated bibliography identifying specific key resources that explore notions of cultural diversity, includinging those key resources currently missing from this collection based on suggestings from the public. We will be updating the library blog and website shortly with more information on how to take part and how add your own contributions to the interactive Progress Reports bibliography.

The library breaks its silence

When the Stuart Hall Library was asked to contribute ideas of supporting the upcoming Iniva exhibition Progress Reports: art in an era of diversity, the library began to look at ways we could highlight this unique resource. The library has always provided supporting material for Iniva exhibitions and events through project bibliographies and displays of library and archive material. The library staff play the role of explorer, sorting through library materials and hidden gems in the archive in order to provide further research material for staff and visitors.

But Progress Reports required something more. In 2008, Stuart Hall, the founding chair of Iniva and Rivington Place asked "... Is the era and the goal of ‘cultural diversity' in the arts now over? Has the globalisation of the art world - "let a thousand biennales bloom" - 'solved' the problem? The Progress Reports exhibition explores the concept of cultural diversity over the last 15 years since Iniva was founded and the library wanted to contribute something more than just a reading list.

We wanted to bring alive the unique aspects of this library collection, uncovering new art histories and amplifying the voices of the people in this resource. A bibliography could demonstrate the key texts in the recent history of cultural diversity, but a live performance could interpret and interrogate the resource and cultural diversity policies.


Live Bibliographies: Performing the Text is a research project with performance poet Joyful Noise. In collaboration with the librarians and Obinna Nwosu, Joyful Noise has undergone a period of research using the library and archive exploring artists, policies, reports, academic texts, images, talks, and exhibitions focusing on cultural diversity. This research period will culminate in a free live performance in the Stuart Hall Library, Saturday 20th February 2:30pm.

Live Bibliographies has been an exciting research project for the librarians with our reference skills contributing to a unique live performance. The event will feature new pieces by Joyful Noise with an audiovisual collaboration with artist Trevor Mathison. Joyful Noise uncovers lost voices, illuminates new art histories, and playfully interacts with the lexicon of heritage and identity present in the library resource. Her work focuses on translating and playfully engaging with the formal language used to express cultural diversity policies.

Live Bibliographies will of course be supported by an annotated bibliography created by Joyful Noise in collaboration with the librarians. The annotated bibliography will act as a map for the library, threading links between each resource and documenting this original research experience.



The library event is free, to book a place contact bookings@rivingtonplace.org 0207 749 1240. We will be documenting the progress of this research project in the run up to the event, please continue to check the blog for further information.

Hollywood Librarian: Take 2

I am pleased to announce that Hollywood Librarian: Take 2 will be our second in a series of events which explores the representation of librarians in film, literature, and the media in contrast to the changing role of the library as a social institution.

This is a free event for librarians as well as those interested in film studies, gender, and represesentation. Hollywood Librarian: Take 2 is being held at the Stuart Hall Library, Rivington Place, London on Monday 1st March 2010 10:30am - 5pm. Booking is free and includes refreshments and lunch. To book a place please contact bookings@rivingtonplace.org, 0207 749 1240. For further information please contact Holly Callaghan library@iniva.org, 0207 7749 1255.

Hollywood Librarain: Take 2 will again feature 2 film screenings that represent the library profession in very different ways. The event will also feature a panel discussion in which 3 selected librarians/institutions will provide presentations and discuss ways of transforming misconceptions of libraries.

Our first Hollywood Librarian event was extremely well attended and focused on identifying the major stereotypes associated with librarians featured in the media. This sequel event will explore the cinematic representations further as well as providing group discussions and examples of libraries that seek to actively transform these misconceptions.

In the weeks leading up to this event I will be posting relevant articles, suggested filmographies, and case studies for points of discussion, as well as further information about the two films we will be screening so stay tuned!

Festive Librarians

In preparation of our upcoming event Hollywood Librarian II and to add some festive cheer, let's discuss the representation and commodification of librarians during the Christmas holidays!



Due to low staffing, a librarian must spend her Christmas Eve stacking the shelves at a library in desperate need of renovations. After the strain of a long night that has left her feeling "like Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol," she is pleasantly surprised to see Santa and his elves coming to her rescue in a red bookmobile. Santa helps out by signing Newbery winners and starred Caldecotts and then reads to the children. His elves, eager to help, stock the library shelves with Hawthorne, Steinbeck, Millay, and Hemingway and then replace the rugs, fix leaks, and organize gifts according to the Dewey decimal system. After paying overdue library fines, Santa tells everyone, "Do one more good deed. Have a real merry Christmas--teach someone to read!"

It's an etremely twee and whimsical look at libraries that somehow manages to address everyday library issues such as budget cuts and low staffing. While children's books can't be expected to explore the gritty realities of the library and information profession, it's positive to see the importance of a library recognised by even Santa himself.

On a less positive and festive note there is always the classic scene from It's A Wonderful Life (Dir. Frank Capra, 1946)



In this Christmas classic George discovers the tragic news that had he never been born, his wife Mary would have ended up an old maid; she would have become a librarian. The shock of this tragic news is almost too much for poor George, after all, librarianship must be some sort of punishment for those who never marry.

And Christmas just wouldn't be christmas without a little bit of commodification. In case you are stuck for ideas of gifts to please a librarian during the holidays then here's some librarian gifts. My personal favourite is the home librarian kit, perfect for those who are strict with lending their own personal books.


From librarians who are so under-staffed they rely on Santa to help them organise their collections, to lonely 'old maid' librarians, to librarians that can't separate their work from their home life - Happy Holidays and see you at Hollywood Librarian II March 2010.

Hollywood Librarian II: The Sequel

We are pleased to announce that the Stuart Hall Library will be hosting our second Hollywood Librarian event Monday 1st March 2010.

Continuing the themes of stereotypes and professional idenities we are inviting librarians from all sectors to join us for a day of discussions and film screenings in the Stuart Hall Library. While dispelling the myths and preconceptions of the roles of librarians and libraries, we will focus on specific examples of libraries that engage with new approaches to promoting their services.

More information about the day will be posted soon with full details of the the schedule as well as information on how to book a place.

To get the conversation started take a look at this 10 min film comissioned by JISC which looks at the future of academic libraries.


Ignore the fact that the video heavily promotes JISC services; the film raises some contentious claims in regards to the future of academic libraries. Nobody is denying that academic libraries are changing at a rapid pace, but some of the opinions raised in this piece are questionnable. Are we really that threatened by google? Are librarians incapable of engaging and interacting with the internet and e-resources? Is the world of printed material dead?No of course not, and I'm sure many of us tire from contending these arguments both personally and professionally. And what about the physical library space? How is the library space being used and transformed, and how does this affect the perception of librarians?

We will take a look at these misconceptions in relation to further examples of librarians in all aspects of popular culture. At the last Hollywood Librarian event we indentified certain stereotypes; Hollywood Librarian II gives us another opportunity to look at how the library and informatian profession is represented in cinema, as well as identifying new examples of the changing librarian.

Evaluating a collection of practice.

The Stuart Hall Library recently hosted the engage event A Collection of Practice. The event posed the question - does a canon of gallery education resources exist? The event was chaired by Veronica Sekules, Head of Education and Research at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, University of East Anglia; with guest speakers Paul Dash(Head of Teachers as Artists programme, Goldsmiths, University of London) and Yara El-Sherbini (Artist)


Guest speakers and attendees were asked to consider the following points:

• 
  
  Are there key books and resources that have informed or developed the practice of gallery education and visual arts learning?








• 
  
  How are books chosen for reading lists for academic courses?








• 
  
  How relevant are the texts to practice in gallery learning?
  

The guest speakers presented their work in the context of research, citing various texts and key resources that have influenced their practice. Both Paul Dash and Yara El-Sherbini were extremely complimentary of the Iniva library resource, and Yara directly referenced materials from the library collection.Nobody was denying the influence that research has on artistic practice and in the work of gallery education; it's how this list of resources can be collected and shared that is the most interesting aspect.

Veronica Sekules leading group discussions.

Paul Dash presentation

Yara El-Sherbini presentation

As the librarian in charge of managing the engage collection in the library this was a fascinating opportunity to explore gallery educators' and artists' suggested key texts and resources, some of which can be found in the engage resource and Iniva collections, and some which are located further afield.

Recently I have put together a suggested reading list of materials available from the engage resource and also the Stuart Hall Library collection, in support of the engage conference, focusing on gallery education and regeneration. The library is also responsible for creating a number of reading lists throughout the year in support of Iniva's own work and exhibitions. In creating these reading lists, my own background in the arts and cultural theory as well familiarity of the library's collection enables me to construct relevant reading lists. But what about a subject I have no background in? Did I feel qualified to construct a reading list in relation to gallery education and regeneration?

The bibliography I created in support of the recent engage conference provided a series of key texts focusing not only on education and regeneration, but also on cultural diversity and international case studies based on materials belonging to the Stuart Hall Library collection. This was not an enage reading list, this was not even a bibliography for arts and regeneration, but was an Iniva reading list produced around the themes of the engage conference and provided context for the engage resource within the library collection.

One of the things the library is interested in is ways of interacting with library users through our reading lists. How useful is a list of suggested material? As librarians what is our selection process? How will someone else find this list useful? A Collection of Practice allowed us to assess our own practice of compiling reading lists. We have already begun to create annotated reading lists providing comments and descriptions of the suggested texts. However this particular event opened up the possiblities further.

For the first time the library utilised our blog to create an online interactive reading list in this post inviting engage members, librarians, artists, academics, library users, and the general public to suggest key resources that have inspired gallery education. We were very keen not to specify just 'books' which is what most people think of when contributing to a reading list; in fact the term reading list can often be problematic placing focus on printed material only. We wanted suggestions encompassing books, articles, journals, films, websites, people, case studies, reports, institutions, workshops - anything! In the weeks leading up to this event we collected not just a list of key materials, but often accompanying annotated notes describing the material and highlighting it's place in gallery education.

From the discussions that took place during A Collection of Practice it was understood that reading lists have the ability to be flexible and interactive in order to benefit as many people as possible. Several attendees made the comparison to the 'recommended reads' signs which appear in bookstores, in which materials are selected by staff with a brief summary and a review of the material. Others made the suggestion for more flexible library catalogue systems which mirror the structure of online webstores in which materials are recommended for the user based on previous searches.

At the moment the reading list created via the blog, email, and suggestions in person, features a diverse range of disciplines and formats. Where possible we have attempted to annotate each item with the orignal notes as they were suggested.We have also included where possible the name of the person recommending the material as this was suggested a useful tool by engage members. The reading list should not be treated as a finished document; we will continue to accept suggestions and will continue to update the reading list. Please leave feedback in the comments section of this blog post as well as forwarding suggestions for anything which you consider a key resource to library@iniva.org.

• Abdalla, G. (2003) A Review of the Status of Paelistinian Refugees in Lebanon. Palestine: Palestinian Human Rights Organisation.(Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Althusser, B. et al. (2009) A Manual for the 21st Century Art Institution. London: Whitechapel. 'Published to mark the reopening of the Whitechapel Gallery in 2009 and told in the format of a guided tour around the different areas of the building.' (Recommended by Laura Cherry)

• Althusser, L. (1971) Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. London: New Left Books. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Anderson, D. (1999) A Common Wealth: Museums in the Learning Age. London: DCMS. 'A report written by David Anderson, perhaps now a little out of date but the passion and committment still oozes from his words, has also been hugely influential.' (Recommended by Amanda P.)

• Berger, J. (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin (Recommended by Sue Clive)

• Barr, J. (1999) Liberating Knowledge: Research, Feminism and Adult Education. Leicester: NIACE. (Recommended by Clare)

• Barthes, R. (1972) Rhetoric of the Image in Barthes, R. Mythologies. London:Cape (Recommended by Amanda P.)

• Benjamin, W. (1992) Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in Benjamin, W. Illuminations. London: Fontana. 'Of great importance to me and how I work are two essays from the canon of postmodern theory which I share in case they are of interest to anyone else. (Recommended by Amanda P.)

• Bennett, T. (1995) The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics. London: Routledge (Recommended by Kaija)

• Bourdieu, P. (1969) The Love of Art: European Art Museums and Their Public. Cambridge: Polity Press

• Bourdieu,P. (1979) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. London: Routledge. 'Both critique the idea that certain audiences have an innate ability to 'read', appreciate, or enjoy art, while for many it is seen as an exclusive and inaccessible world. Rather, this sense of 'taste' or 'cultural capital' has more to do with social class, background, education and therefore is not innate but can and should be made available for all to enjoy.' (Recommended by Simon)

• Bourriaud, N. (1998) Relational Aesthetics. France: Les Presse Du Reel. (Recommended by Yara El-Sherbini)

• Byszewski, Janusz http://www.modernart.ie/museum21/archive06.html [online] 'On a less academic note, an inspirational educator Janusz Byszewski, Poland, and especially experienced in a live situation!' (Recommended by Kaija)

• Chora & Bunschoten, R. (2000) Urban Flotsam. Rotterdam:010 Publishers (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Cultural Policy Collective. (2004) Beyond Social Inclusion: Towards Cultural Democracy. London: The Cultural Policy Collective. 'A comprehensive and timely dismantling of New Labour's social inclusion agenda which confirmed much misgivings in the gallery education sector and voiced the need for less instrumentalisation and control of the sector.' (Recommended by Johnny)

• Dickson, M. (1995) Art With People. London: AN Publications. 'A survey of the art and ideas of the eighties in the community arts and early gallery education sector, which I found important to give a grounding to some basic principles of engagement.' (Recommended by Johnny)

• Dickson, M. (1990) David Harding in The Variant, No 8. pp.41-48. 'A second influence is David Harding's tenure as 'Town Artist' in Glenrothes from 1969 to 1979 where he formed part of the planning team. David then went on to establish the Environmental Art Course at Glasgow School of Art, whose philosophical cornerstone was 'Context is half the work.' - borrowed from APG and used to a great degree in the fine work of the department right up until the late 90s.' (Recommended by Malcolm Dickson)

• Duncan, C. (1995) Civilizing Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums. London:Routledge. (Recommended by Kaija)

• Education at Cooper-Hewitt. Available at http://www.cooperhewitt.org/EDU/ [online] 'Quite early on, about 1979 or 1980 - I attended a Museum and Gallery Conference in Melbourne, Australia. One of the workshops was led by Eileen who had created a brilliant and inspiring education programme at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York. This was radical stuff! Her thoughts, her practice, her experiments, her enthusiasm, extended my horizons and showed me what could be.' (Recommended by Moria Johnson.)

• Egashira, S. (2006) Before Object, After Image: Koshirakura Landscape 1996-2006. London: AA Publications. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Ewald, W & Lightfoot, A. (2002) I Wanna Take Me a Picture: Teaching Photography and Writing to Children. East Sussex: Beacon Press. 'It isn't specifically about education in galleries but relates to ways of helping grow children and young people's visual and written literacies by focusing on representing themselves and their worlds.' (Recommended by Janice McLaren)

• Friere,P. (1968) Pedagogy of the Opressed. 2nd rev. ed. London: Continuum. (Recommended by Emily Pringle)

• Hooks, B. (1994) Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. London: Routledge. (Recommended by Kaija)

• Hylton,R. (2007) The Nature of the Beast: Cultural Diversity and the Visual Arts Sector. A Study of the Policies, Initiatives and Attitudes 1976-2006. Bath:ICIA 'This book provides and analysis of cultural diversity policies in the visual arts within the publically funded sector.' (Maxine Miller)

• Jacir, E. (2001) Memorial to 418 Palestinian Villages Which Were Destroyed, Depopulated and Occupied by Israel in 1948. Refugee tent and embroidery thread, 138"x115"x96" Contemporary Art Center Studio Exhibition, NYC. (Recommended by Yara El-Sherbini)

• Jacir, E. (2001) Where We Come From. Mixed media, 30 framed texts, 32 photos. Anthony Reynolds Gallery. (Recommended by Yara El-Sherbini)

• Kaprow,A. (1993) Essays on the Blurring of Art and Life. California: University of California Press. (Recommended by Emily Pringle)

• Kelly, O. (1984) Community, Art and the State: Storming the Citadels. London: Comedia. 'I'd like to contribute my favourite book on the subject . It very eloquently argued the case for cultural democracy as distinct from the democratisation of culture, and this remains a compelling debate which is still pertinent, as many of the comments at the the recent engage conference indicate.' (Recommended by Malcolm Dickson and Emily Pringle)

• Kester,G. (2005) Conversation Pieces:The Role of Dialogue in Socially-Engaged Art In Kocur, Z. & Leung, S. Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. London:Blackwell. (Recommended by Yara El-Sherbini)

• Kwon, M. (2004) One Place After Another: Site Specific Art and Locational Identity. MIT Press. (Recommended by Yara El-Sherbini)

• Lacy, S. (1994) Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art. Bay Press. (Recommended by Yara El-Sherbini)

• Lacy,S. (1993) Oakland Projects: The Roof is on Fire. Live art, Oakland, California. (Recommended by Yara El-Sherbini)

• Lefaivre, L & Doll. (2007) Ground-Up City. Play as a Design Tool. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Lefaivre,L et al. (2002) Aldo Van Eyck: The Playgrounds and the City in The Architectural Review Oct 1. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Luckett, H. (1982) Through Children's Eyes: A Fresh Look at Contemporary Art. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. (Recommended by Sue Clive)

• Mörsch,C. (2009) Documenta 12 Education 2: Between Critical Practice and Visitor Services. Results of a Research Project. Berlin: Diaphanes. 'This first volume gives and insight into education formats and models used at the Documenta 12 and the second volume focuses on methods and contexts, and reflects theoretically on the given examples. The books provide an excellent basis for practitioners and academia and encourage a critical reflection of dominant approaches.' (Recommended by Anna)

• Norman, N. (2003) An Architecture of Play; A Survey of London's Adventure Playgrounds. London: Four Corners Books. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• O'Donaghue, H. (2006) Access All Areas. Dublin: IMMA

• Tanner, R. (1987) Double Harness: An Autobiography. London:Impact Books. 'Tanner's text 'Learning and the Arts' has always been my inspiration, it works for adults too:"...every boy and girl I taught was unique, with gifts and graces peculiarly their own...it was my privelege to create a setting or environment or, one might almost say, a climate in which these startling powers could emerge and flourish."(Recommended by Cleo)

• Sedgwick, F. (2002) Enabling Children's Learning Through Drawing. London: David Fulton. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Sharp, C & Dust, K. (1990) Artists in Schools: A Handbook for Artists and Teachers. Slough: NFER (Recommended by Emily Pringle)

• Shaw, J. & Robertson, C. (1997) Participatory Video: A Practical Guide to Using Video Creatively in Group Development Work. London:Routledge. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Warner, M.(1993) Richard Wentworth. London: Thames &Hudson. (Recommended by Reem Charif)

• Wieczorek, W. (2009) Documenta 12 Education 12 Education 1: Engaging Audiences, Opening Institutions. Methods and Strategies in Gallery Education at Documentat 12. Berlin: Diaphenes. 'The first volume gives an insight into education formats and models used at the Documenta 12. The books provide an excellent basis for practitioners and academia and encourage a critical reflection of dominant approaches. (Recommended by Anna)

• Zureik, E. (1996) Palestinian Refugees and the Peace Process. Washington DC: Institute for Palestine Studies.

A collection of practice

The engage resource is currently housed at the Stuart Hall Library and is a specialist collection of gallery education materials including reports, case studies, teachers packs, exhibition catalogues, audio visual materials, and cultural theory. On November 19th The Stuart Hall Library will be hosting A Collection of Practice - a free evening event exploring the notion of the bibliography in gallery and visual arts education.

In preparation for the event we are asking engage members, gallery educators, lecturers, students, librarians and all interested parties to contribute their thoughts and to take part in the construction of an interactive online bibliography.We want your suggestions for key resources within the field of gallery education, please let us know in the comments below.

We will be using the Stuart Hall Library blog to debate the issues surrounding the canon of reading lists and bibliographies in gallery education. The event will be posing three questions to the guest speakers:

* Are there key books and resources that have informed or developed the practice of gallery education and visual arts learning?
* How are books chosen for reading lists for academic courses?
* How relevant are the texts to practice in gallery learning?


We are interested in reading your thoughts on these topics and enthusiastically welcome any personal recomendations of 'key texts' within this field. Are there resources that you feel are neglected in traditional bibliographies? Are there 'forgotten' materials or resources that you would like to suggest to be added to this bibliography? Have you ever contributed or constructed a reading list bibliography and if so what has this process been like?

As we get ready to explore these issues please use the library blog comments to suggest materials and voice your opinions. In the run up to the event we can begin to compile this shared interactive bibliography and debate the canon of gallery education reading lists.



engage is the National Association for Gallery Education: a professional organisation for those in the field of the visual arts and learning. Members include policymakers, curators, gallery staff, teachers and artists. engage supports Gallery Education through projects and programmes, Continuing Professional Development, publications and resources. For information about membership go to www.engage.org/join

Attack of the killer librarian!

As it's almost Halloween lets focus on why Librarians are just so scary. Don't believe me?



Hands up how many of us have dreamed up doing that with a copy of AACR2?

If you too want to walk as the undead librarian this Halloween
here's some handy tips for perfecting your costume.



These instructions for creating a zombie librarian look certainly seem to be based on the traditional stereotype of the librarian, all the vitals are there:
'Frumpy dress'
'Granny glasses'
'Sensible shoes'
'Sssssh!'

And for all those Children's Librarians there's some reading material to keep children afraid




Librarians are scary whether its the constant Shushing, or the enjoyment of public humiliation of offending library patrons, Librarians can be portrayed quite literally as monsters. Here are a few examples of horror librarians in film:

Ghostbusters (1984)


One of the first ghosts encountered by the Ghostbusters is the ghost of Eleanor Twitty at the New York Public library. Her ghost appears harmless enough, quietly shelving books. Until the ghostbusters disturb her and attempt to capture her, her full monster is revealed.
Top tip: Don't ever disturb a librarian while shelving under any circumstances.Librarians take their job very seriously, even in the afterlife, because of course librarians don't actually have lives.


Personal Ads(1990)

Jennifer O'Neill plays a timid librarian who by day shelves books, but by night stalks men via newspaper ads then kills them on the first date. Proof if needed that librarians are hysterical and fearful creatures and that women should not be trusted with a position of power.


Chainsaw Sally (2004)


Sally works at the local library who likes to take revenge on uninformed library patrons with ehr chainsaw. She carries out a series of murders justified by her role as librarian:

Sally: I've been looking for you. Waiting, waiting … you never came back. Why, Tina?
Tina: Why? I don't know what you're talking about.
Sally: Don't pretend you don't know.
Tina: Please! I have no idea what you're talking about!
Sally: No idea? NO IDEA?? Is it not true that in June of last year you checked out a book from the public library? Is it not true that you, Tina Gray, checked out Atkins for Life by the late Robert C. Atkins? (Shouting) And is it not true that since then that book has not been able to be checked out by any other patron of the Porterville Public Library? Is it?
Tina: (sobbing) Yes! I guess so!
Sally: And why is that, Tina? WHY IS THAT, TINA!!!
Tina: Because! I never brought it back!
Sally: That's right. You never did. And now your fine is in the double digits. But, Tina, you only live four blocks away. I sent notices. I sent letters. What the fuck is wrong with you, girly girl? Now there are a bunch of freakin' fat asses waddling around Porterville, and it's all thanks to your complete and utter LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY!!



The Church (1989)

Evan is a cataloguer working on a historic collection of books at the old cathedral when he accidently unleashes an evil being hidden underneath the cathedral. Evan becomes posessed by the demon proving that it is not healthy for librarians to be around books all day long.

The Off-Season (2004)

Kathryn plays a library assistant who unfortunately checks into a haunted room in a motel possessed by evil spirits. Maybe her reference skills can save her?

So why are Librarians so scary?