Course Description

What do you think of when you think of the library? Is it the place where you spent hot afternoons reading in a cubby? Is it filled with terrifying librarians who will “shhhh” you if you step out of line? Does it serve as the free intellectual gathering place of the community or is it an obsolete building filled with books that people could read for free on their phones?

Since 1901, Albuquerque and Bernalillo County Libraries have grown to eighteen branches which serve our community. This course will look at the history of our library system, the ways in which different locations serve their immediate communities, the way the libraries are funded, how our libraries envision their futures, and what we can do to help them further their goals or to help them set goals they never even imagined.

If you love that Hermione knew, “When in doubt, go to the library,” or that Borges said “I have always imagined Paradise to be a kind of library” or that Lady Bird Johnson, former first lady said, “Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest,” then this is the class for you. We will explore the libraries in Albuquerque as our text.

Texts

The Library: A Fragile History, Andres Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen

The Library Book, Susan Orlean

What You Are Looking for is in the Library, Michiko Aoyama

Librarian Tales, William Ottens

Requirements

Reading response papers

Preconceptions Essay

Initial Impressions Essay

Visits to public libraries in the city; reflection papers

Attend a library event; reflection paper

Research group project

Final portfolio

About the Instructor(s): Jona Kottler