The Library welcomes Fall with a new Partnership, a new Resident, a newly scheduled Event, some new News, and the widest offering of public drop-in hours in its history.
Partnership News: The Library is delighted to announce a new partnership with Flying Squads represented locally by Aubrielle Hvolboll. “Flying Squads is a youth liberation and anti-oppression collective. We believe in the abolition of divided spaces between young people and the rest of their community. …Flying Squads step out of the classroom and off the playground and into public space as a form of youth activism.” In practical terms, Aubrielle will convene a small group of unschooled teens in the Library – outside of public hours – starting mid-October; using the space as a base for urban exploration as well as exploration of the stacks.
Residency News: Please welcome stevie redwood, a writer, poet and activist born & raised in San Francisco who will mobilize the materials in the stacks towards new projects that will “engage with various San Francisco histories; on housing…; & on public infrastructure & its nebulaic relationships with capitalism & privatization, ecological catastrophe, & the production & reification of taxonomical stratification…” Mostly off-hours. The residencies of Sheri Simons and of Kristin Wong are each of the low-intensity and long-durational variety, and are ongoing.
Event News: Saturday, October 29th, documentarian Amy Reid offers a screening of her film Long Haulers about women truckers: “All truckers are either running away or running to something.” In Long Haulers, through experimentation, performative play, and direct observational filmmaking you meet women truckers who have fled domestic violence, the stigmas of being formerly incarcerated, and mental health issues. Weaving together the stories of three truckers, Sandi, Lori, and Tracy, Long Haulers shares how each woman started trucking and what keeps them trucking.” Details posted to the Library website as the date approaches. Masking, distancing, low-density seating can be expected.
Additional Fall Events will be announced in later newsletters, to wit: A new [untitled] Lost Landscapes series installation in partnership with Long Now is planned for December, while Thom Blum plans a special sound art performance for the future.
The Library in the News: KGO-7 ABC News produced a 3.5 minute profile of the Library that went national on Friday September 30. Here’s a link:
https://abc7chicago.com/prelinger-library-south-of-market-neighborhood-san-francisco-megan/12282713/
The Library continues the widest offering of public open hours in its history through the efforts of the hosting consortium: Thom Blum hosts Sunday afternoon hours enhanced by his sound art installation which “animates the Library through the use of sounds (https://www.thomblum.com./) … Tuesdays are hosted by Carolee Gilligan Wheeler (https://www.superdilettante.com/) …while the co-founders + Jay Bartguy host ongoing Wednesdays, … and Stacks Explorer creator Devin Smith hosts Thursdays.
Additional News: The Library’s sibling project, the Prelinger Archives (the film archives) has been awarded a three-year grant by the FileCoin Foundation for the Distributed Web to digitize its holdings and the holdings of future partners. This grant funds a handful of staff positions specifically related to film digitization for three years. A news release can be found here: https://medium.com/@FFDWeb/ffdw-works-with-prelinger-archives-to-make-rare-historic-films-more-accessible-using-the-558e4dbec990 and calls for applications can be found here: https://linktr.ee/usefulradio Please share this news.
& last brief lateral update: The Library’s tertiary (or even further) function as a recruitment & support space for entry into Ham radio is moving forward. A recent librarian / radio Ham meetup & skillshare session brought 6 people with more community members signed up to do cram/exam licensing sessions at the upcoming “Hamvention” Pacificon https://www.pacificon.org/ in the East Bay. Think about it!
On behalf of all the Library’s users we want to express our profound gratitude to the Support Community that has kept the lights on for the past two years and now into year three of the pandemic times (year two of being reopen). We wish for everyone to continue staying well, and look forward to seeing you in the stacks!
Thank you, from the Prelinger Library
via Megan & Rick