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Abstract: Life Behind the Stacks: Rule N° 5 & the Singularity of Library Worker Voices
In a world where the predominant form of museum tours is a “voice of god” narrator interpreting a place, space, or art on the wall, a global community of librarians has other ideas about how stories of the library–as concept, as space, as entity–can be told. Rule N° 5 is a collaboratively-created interactive audio experience that centers the voices of library workers and encourages a deeper exploration of the Library through six interactive artworks, each inviting visitors to tune into a place they frequent but might not have explored behind the stacks.
Living at the intersection of public humanities, critical librarianship, and installation art, Rule N° 5 examines practices and objects that shape how we can search, who we will find, and what we remember. Listeners are invited to open doors and drawers, plug in, and push buttons to explore and contemplate what it means to collect the world’s knowledge, preserve the past, and shape the future.
In this un-paper presentation, we share excerpts from Rule N° 5 and argue that the story of libraries is far larger than stats and gate counts–it’s a chorus of voices sparking curiosity, wonder, and joy at the invisibility and vastness of library work.
Living at the intersection of public humanities, critical librarianship, and installation art, Rule N° 5 examines practices and objects that shape how we can search, who we will find, and what we remember. Listeners are invited to open doors and drawers, plug in, and push buttons to explore and contemplate what it means to collect the world’s knowledge, preserve the past, and shape the future.
In this un-paper presentation, we share excerpts from Rule N° 5 and argue that the story of libraries is far larger than stats and gate counts–it’s a chorus of voices sparking curiosity, wonder, and joy at the invisibility and vastness of library work.