ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

“Knowledge Bound” at San Francisco State University

On April 28,1987, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., the J. Paul Leonard Library at San Francisco State University was the site of a performance art work. Among the unusual site-specific events that were staged there was a doctor listening to the stacks with a stethoscope, a table set with a feast of books in different languages, ghostly likenesses of great writers wandering the stacks, and three furies enticing people to enter the Library.

The event, “Knowledge Bound,” involved approximately 35 activities, events, and installations that simultaneously took place throughout the university library building. This project represents a new and non-traditional approach to campus outreach by the Leonard Library.

“Knowledge Bound” was the master’s degree Creative Work Project of two graduate students from the San Francisco State University Inter-Arts Center, Nancy Beckman and Levia Stern. Their great love of libraries led them to explore imaginatively the physical, cultural and intellectual environment of the Leonard Library. Their purpose was to bring to life great thinkers and to explore themes related to books and education.

The activities involved in the pursuit of knowledge—observing, documenting, classifying—were portrayed along with humorous interpretations of traditional and contemporary attitudes toward libraries. Beckman and Stern gave delighted onlookers from the campus and community an opportunity to experience the library in new and imaginative ways.

For more information concerning this event, contact Victoria Scarlett, Exhibits Specialist, J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University, 1630 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94132; (415) 469-1198. ■ ■