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My friend and colleague Jane Carlin, former Library Director at Collins Memorial Library at the University of Puget Sound, just had an article published the recent issue (vol 85 no 5 (2024))of College & Research Libraries News (Association of College and Research Libraries). “The Power of Artists’ Books: Catalysts for Creative Thinking Across the Curriculum” looks at the impact of remote and hybrid experiences in education and ways to increase engagement through the use of primary source materials.

Students want and need to connect with one another and with course content in meaningful and innovative ways. Teaching and pedagogy literature abounds with examples looking for ways to engage students and create a sense of belonging.

Our advice is to advocate for the use of unique primary resources in the classroom. The use of primary source materials provides students with a hands-on, haptic experience, away from the screen or mobile electronic devices. When students work with primary sources, whether historical or contemporary, they make a connection with the artifact. In this article, we explore our use of one type of primary source material, artists’ books, as a tool for student engagement.

Artists’ books in the classroom – and really in any setting where people can engage with them – provide rich opportunities to explore artistic expression and commentary. We are called to engage kinesthetically in this art, and through the works of these artists, we are called to be active participants in the unfolding of their voices and messages. Just as these artists challenge our notion of art and book, they also challenge us to think in new ways about ourselves and our world.

https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/26335/34276

Recently I received an email from a student who graduates this semester that reminded me that you never know how the work you do and the small decisions you make can a profound impact for someone else. Over the course of my work as a librarian, I founded and curate a collection of artists’ books (started nearly 20 years ago). This collection is used heavily to create hands-on, interactive experiences for students in courses in a wide variety of disciplines. The excepted emails below are from a studio art student about a work they encountered earlier in their experience but came around full circle in an art history course this past semester. What I love about this email is that it’s not about me – not about something I taught or some memorable way I talked about something – it’s just about one particular artist’s book that I collected….one that really never struck me as anything significant (probably more a commentary on me than on the work!), but made a difference to this student.

Here’s what they shared in the email:

“As my time at Baylor is coming to a close, I have been more and more reflecting on how my art has changed through the years. My work is heavily centered around found imagery and when thinking back to where that interest came from, I realized it was the book arts collection! My sophomore year, I saw [title/artist]. I had never before seen anyone use collage and the archives in a fine arts context and it really opened my eyes to a new possibility. Ever since then, I have been working in collage and found imagery and even created my own digital archive. I would not have taken this direction with my work if it weren’t for the book arts collection, it has had such an impact on me. I just wanted to share with you my love for the book arts!”

I’m grateful to be involved in meaningful work, especially work that might seem small or insignificant on the surface and I’m grateful for the time this student took to shine a light on how those little things can ripple out beyond our control to influence the world.

This academic year has seen a number of really exciting collaborations with courses and the Baylor Libraries Special Collections. There are many more than the ones I’ll talk about here, but these are the ones in which I’ve been directly involved. Just during this year, I worked with over 1400 students in 43 different instructional settings, some of these were research related, but many were about incorporating engagement with our special collections. This work is at the heart of creating transformative educational experiences for Baylor students and has made such an impact that students write glowingly about these sessions on their course evaluations- sometimes months after the experience! As a library administrator, I’m very fortunate to be able to hold onto the opportunity to still be a practitioner librarian. It brings me a lot of joy and reward, even though it often makes for a much busy and chaotic schedule.

Hispanic and Latin American Artists’ Books

An inventory of the artist books I’ve created (as of this post):

to visit some (but not all) of them virtually, visit tiny.cc/artistbooks. For artist’s statements and more details about each work, visit tiny.cc/artiststatements .

KnownUnknown. Limited edition letterpress artist’s book. Robinson, Texas: BlackHare Studio, 2015.

All copies of the edition (8) held in the following special collections:
• Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Herron Art Library
• University of Washington Suzzallo and Allen Libraries Special Collections
• University of Louisville Art Library Rare Books Collection
• Private Collection, Seattle, Washington
• University of Puget Sound Library Archives and Special Collections
• University of California San Diego Special Collections
• University of Connecticut Dodd Research Center Special Collections
• Baylor University Special Collections

Mysterion. One-of-a-kind artist’s book. Woodway, Texas: Art of Letters Studio, 2017.

Tabula Rasa. One-of-a-kind artist’s book. Woodway, Texas: Art of Letters Studio, 2018.

We Are Writing These Things. One-of-a-kind artist’s book. Woodway Texas: Art of Letters Studio, 2018.

We Are Writing These Things. Variable edition artist’s books. Woodway Texas: Art of Letters Studio, 2018.

The variable edition of We Are Writing These Things appears in collections of:
• University of Rochester’s Art and Music Library
• Virginia Commonwealth University’s James Branch Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives
• University of Arkansas’ University Libraries Special Collections

A Clean Sheet of Parchment. Variable edition artist’s book. Woodway, Texas: Art of Letters Studio, 2020.

Tabula Rasa (2020). One-of-a-kind artist’s book. Woodway, Texas: Art of Letters Studio, 2020.

Delighted to have one of my recent artist’s books selected for the Opera Verbis exhibition in Denver, Colorado.

A Clean Sheet of Parchment (2020), variable-edition artist’s book (4.5 in x 3 in x 0.125 in.)

This simple, single-sheet book uses stark contrasts of white ink on black paper and the bold marks of the ruling pen and with quieter voice of pointed pen to focus on a fragment of the larger Henry Martin quote explored in Tabula Rasa (2018) and Tabula Rasa (2020). “Perhaps someday, humanity can start afresh, a new world, a tabula rasa, when all humanity becomes a clean sheet of parchment . . . .”

Opera Verbis will be on view in the Gates Reading Room Gallery, Denver Public Library, Central Branch, Denver, Colorado, July – December 2020.