PLL Reading Room / Schneider Museum of Art

PLL Reading Room / Schneider Museum of Art / October 3 - December 6

A selection of 70 books from the Personal Libraries Library, accompanied by an arrangement of PLL printed matter and framed works, will be at the Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland this autumn. The PLL Readings by Tom Prochaska (No. 1), Louis Schalk (No. 2) and Diana Pembor (No. 3), and published by Publication Studio will also be on display.

The 70 books consist of all of the books acquired by the Library in the past year, including all of the books available in the Anne Spencer Collection. This installation of the PLL Reading Room is part of Selections from Portland2014: A Biennial of Contemporary Art, made possible by Disjecta, Amanda Hunt, and everyone at the Schneider Museum of Art. Thanks to all!

Opening Reception / Thursday, October 2 / 5 - 7
Schneider Museum of Art
1250 Siskiyou Blvd
Ashland, OR 97520

February 2011 Reading Room & New Acquisitions

The February Reading Room Hours bring to an end the era of the small-bookcase for the Library. I am diligently sanding, staining & finishing the bookshelves for the Library to grow into. Look for the new shelves & Library room next month!

In addition to another successful Reading Room, the Library continues to grow in members and books.


The newest acquisitions include:

The Cyclical Night: Irony in James Joyce & Jorge Luis Borges by L. A. Murillo (Smithson Collection)
The Varieties of Religious Experiences by William James (Borges Collection)
Monsieur Teste by Paul Valery (Calvino Collection)

Also, are two more books to add to the Flaubert contingent!:


The amazing covers of Flaubert's The Temptation of St. Anthony and Victor Brombert's The Novels of Flaubert, from the Borges & Smithson Collections, respectively.


And lastly is Snapshots, by Alain Robbe-Grillet, from Smithson's Personal Library. The Library's edition has this amazing sheet taped in the back, showing Haslam's Bookstore's acquisition of the book on February 25, 1975. The Personal Libraries Library has now accessioned the same book almost exactly 36 years later! A beautiful parallel & paratext.

Please contact the Library at personallibraries{at}gmail{dot}com with queries about the books or membership. Also, please browse the Catalogues to see other books in the Library.

May Reading Room Update

The May Reading Room Hours were a success! New members joined, books were checked out and many members stopped by to see the collections. As a by-product of being located next to the King Neighborhood Farmers Market- the Library even had some non-members wander in.


The Reading Room will not be open during June & July so that the PLL Librarian can travel to Belgium and the Netherlands; where many trips to libraries there will occur! Please look forward to attending the Reading Room Hours in August.

Reading Room & New Acquisitions: March 2010

The PLL has acquired four new books for the Robert Smithson Personal Library Collection. Pictured above, they include: Mircea Eliade's Cosmos and History, Harry Levin's James Joyce, Making Friends with the Stars by Arthur J. Zadde and Frank Edwards' Flying Saucers- Serious Business. And so you know just how serious the business is, exclamations abound on the cover:


The Personal Libraries Library Reading Room was open for the first time today (March 7), an exciting moment here at the Library.


The Reading Room Hours allowed for members to browse the books, talk with the Librarian and other members, and discuss the possibilities for the next collection. Reading Room Hours will occur monthly, stay tuned for April's Hours!