Yesterday, the Baylor University Libraries Book Arts and Letterpress Lab welcomed its newest addition to press family, a Washington style standing iron press from 1870 made by R. Hoe & Co. (New York/London). This press came to us by way of Steve Robinson of Letterpreservation in Indiana. According to documentation accompanying the press, it was used to publish the Spanish-language daily newspaper El Cronista del Valle (The Chronicler of the Valley) in Brownsville, Texas (which according to other sources, began publication in 1917 with extant issues possibly only from 1924, and 1927-30?). The same document – apparently from a publication at the University of Texas (for which I’m still trying to confirm a citation) – indicates that this press was purchased by Bishop’s Print Shop in Brownsville in 1915 “to use as a proof press in his commercial print shop.” It also notes that the press was used to produce El Cronista del Valle “for many years” prior to mentioning Bishop’s acquisition of the press creating some vagueness about the timeline. At first I took that to mean that the paper used it prior to Bishop but if indeed the paper began in 1917, would mean that it was used for that publication while in Bishop’s Print Shop unless there are issues with the reported timeline and chain of custody. Apparently the press was then acquired in 1944 by the University Library at the University of Texas at Austin. I’m not sure of it’s story from that point until 1979, when then Associate Professor Don Davis of the Graduate School of Library Science at UT wrote to the director of the UT Printing Division, Walter Neal, stating that “The library school presently has an early Hoe hand press and we are in the process of establishing a small laboratory press for student use.” He then went on to inquire if the Printing Division could loan the Graduate School of Library Science the necessary equipment and supplies for this lab. This letter provides a clear window into this press’s history as well as a personal connection for me as a graduate of that program.* Even more interesting to me is knowing that this press was connected to the library at UT and was being used to create a lab for students and now, 45 years later, the same press is starting a new, similar chapter at the Baylor Libraries. I’m still working on the press’s story between this letter in 1979 and its journey to Indiana before arriving back in the heart of Texas this week. Stay tuned!
* The University of Texas’s Graduate School of Library Science was founded in 1948. In 1980, the name was changed to Graduate School of Library and Information Science and then again, shortly after I graduated in 2000, to the School of Information.
Since the spring, a lot of my thinking and energy has been devoted to the development of an exciting new endeavor in the Baylor Libraries – the creation of the Book Arts and Letterpress Lab. The spring and this summer have been busy developing the space (on the first floor of Jones Library) and the concepts behind this space. Part of this journey was attempting to articulate the What and the Why of this idea. Often when people learn about the Book Arts and Letterpress Lab that we’re building, the response is in ONE or BOTH of the following camps:
“That’s amazing! When do we start?” and “What does this have to do with libraries?”
To set the stage for my musings on the Why, I want to share with you a couple questions that I think about a lot that help shape my thoughts on this topic – questions I would encourage you to think about from your own perspectives on your work and what you do.
What do we want this place to be known for?
What things are happening here in the libraries that manifest the role of research and engagement on campus?
To preface why we’re starting this lab, I want to first talk about “library as place.” I’m using the word “place” to mean the intersection, interconnection of geographical and philosophical spaces and opportunities (think events, workshops, collaborations, teaching/learning moments, and conversations (formal and informal).
I see library as a place:
for community and creativity
for experimentation and collaboration
of belonging and flourishing
to engage with ideas and with others
for active learning and transformational education
In earlier centuries, we might define library as the repository of humanity’s recorded communication. Some might argue that this is still the definition, but as we think about the miles of shelves full of printed matter, I would suggest that these artifacts are, in and of themselves, the final iteration of creative practice – a record of someone’s research, documentation, poetry, novels, or ideas. And in an academic library especially, these recorded ideas — these artifacts — are part of a larger, ongoing iteration as others engage with, refute, support, or build upon them.
The books and journals that sit seemingly static on the shelves are both the result of creative practice and are building blocks for more creative practice. These materials as well as all the recorded information that exists online, reflect this same activity of creative practice, though the practice might be invisible.
This is why you’ll see visible signs of other kinds of creative practice throughout the Baylor Libraries (like in galleries and exhibition spaces and makerspaces), to remind us that creative practice comes in many different forms and the library is a perfect reflection of that, not just a storage facility.
It’s a place that illuminates and celebrates all forms and stages of scholarship and creative practice. This is precisely why I believe makerspaces make perfect sense in libraries and the new Book Arts and Letterpress Lab is another example of that – with clear historical connections to the history of recorded communication and creative practice with which libraries have always been connected.
So why are we creating a Book Arts and Letterpress Lab?
In addition to the reasons listed above, I think the creation of this lab is also a response to the university’s focus on transformative educational experiences for Baylor students. I would add that I think it’s just as important that this focus also creates ripples that even the rest of the community can benefit from as well.
The vision for the lab is to:
Support the integration of literacies and active learning experiences into the curriculum – specifically in the technologies and histories of communication, printing, and the book,
Serve as a working model of printing practice and history that ushered in a pivotal chapter in the creation, documentation, and dissemination of knowledge and human expression, and
Serve as an experiential lab where users can create their own expressions rooted in the rich heritage of the book and printed communication and a place to learn about the history and craft of book arts and letterpress printing.
Some have asked (for various reasons) why this lab isn’t in the art department. It’s a great question and the art department could certainly support such a creative space, but such a space in the art department would be for art students. Creating this lab in the library puts it on neutral ground and makes the resources and opportunities available to the entire Baylor community and students of all disciplines, just like all the other spaces and services of the University Libraries.
My hope for this lab is that it provides all of the expressions in the above vision for the lab, but also serves as another window to how the library can provide tools and spaces for manifesting the role of research, engagement, and creativity on our campus.
POST SCRIPT
I want to share a story of the naming of this new adventure that I think really reflects what we’re seeking to create. Initially I thought we should name it something like “The Center for Letterpress and Book Arts” as this space will provide the tools and experiences in letterpress printing and other realms of book arts. After mulling over this potential name, my colleague Jeffry Archer (Dean of University Libraries, Museums, and the Press) said [something like], “I was thinking about the word “center” and to me it implies a place to learn about something and that doesn’t quite capture what I think you’re trying to create here as a place for “doing” rather than just learning about.” We talked about how the word “studio” seems like more of a label you would see if this were in an art department and then said, “What about this — you know how you might have a physics class where you go to a lecture hall and learn ABOUT physics, but then you go to the physics lab where you actively DO experiments (the practice and work of what you learned about)? What if we use the word “lab” to reflect the idea that this is an active space. Not a museum on the history of printing or the book or book arts, but a place where people will be actively creating?” I thought this was brilliant! (not just because he’s my boss!) I really do like how the word “lab” embraces the act of practicing what you’ve learned about as well as the experimentation I envision for this space. A place to learn, experiment, practice, and create.
