As we seek to understand the way in which the act of reading is defined by its material constraints, our line of questioning necessarily extends to the spaces in which reading takes place. Where do we read? And how do those places affect our reading? To answer these questions is to move toward an architecture of reading. To place a book within the rooms of a house or public space shifts the significance of historical context from background to foreground. Just as the material constraints involved in the process of printing, binding, and selling books arguably shape the attitudes of readers, so do their physical surroundings add to the shape of their reading experiences.
Exhibition Tour: Saturday, May 17, 3:00pm
Join us on Saturday, May 17, 2008 and meet with the people who created the playful Textual Spaces: An Architecture of Reading as they give a behind the scenes tour of the exhibition. The exhibition curator and staff of the Rare Book & Manuscript Library will discuss the thoughts, processes, and work which went into the creation of the exhibition. Textual Spaces explores the history of reading by looking at spaces in which reading occurs and, in turn, how those spaces affect the types of materials that are read.
