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Q: How many books are in the collection?
Currently there are approximately 530 books in the collection, but because the Reanimation Library is primarily a visual resource collection, a more fruitful method of measuring size of the collection would be to estimate the number of images per book and a conservative, statistically unsound estimate is approximately 40,000 images.
Q: Is this a real library?
Yes it is. It is housed in a former box factory in the Gowanus neighborhood of South Brooklyn. It moved to this location in the Fall of 2006, where it was first a part of the Library Show at Proteus Gowanus. When that show ended in July, 2007, the Library moved into a space adjacent to Proteus Gowanus. It will be housed here for the foreseeable future.
Q: Are you going to digitize all of the books in the collection?
No. Beyond being a violation of copyright law which could potentially land us in a financial and legal quagmire, the Library simply does not have the resources to undertake a project of that size. It is conceivable that at some point the Library may digitize and make available some of its public domain materials, but that is probably quite a ways off.
Q: What does the name mean?
To reanimate means to restore life. More often than not, library collection development policies recommend discarding the type of material that comprises the Library’s Primary Collection. From this perspective, the books of the Primary Collection are dead to most libraries because they aren't kept, maintained, or valued. The Reanimation Library finds, acquires, catalogs, and provides access to this material: it reanimates.
Q: Do you collect any old book with pictures?
Sort of, although the Library is actually quite picky about what it acquires. It’s amazing how many books that seem promising at first, because of a title or a cover design, end up not making it into the collection. Books that have a few great images but that are primarily comprised of text generally won't make the cut. However some books that are full of images also are rejected; for instance, the Library doesn't generally collect children's books, even though they are often generously illustrated. The decision to add material is done on an item-by-item basis, with mindfulness to the overall balance of the collection. For purely aesthetic reasons, the Library tends not to collect material produced after the 1970's, although, there are always exceptions. For a more complete description of the type of material that the Library collects, see the guide to the collections or browse the catalog.
Q: Where do you find these books?
Generally at thrift stores, stoop sales, garage sales, church rummage sales, in boxes on the street, in dumpsters, and at other people's houses.
Q: Are any of these books in other libraries?
Yes. In fact over 85% of them have existing bibliographic records. The primary difference between the Reanimation Library and most other libraries is that it privileges "outdated" graphic information over current textual information. So while you might be able to find some of these materials in other libraries, it is unlikely that you will encounter a large concentration of this kind of graphically-based material because most regular libraries are more than happy to discard it.
Q: Why don't you just cut out the pictures?
The main reason why the Reanimation Library doesn't do this is because such image collections already exist. Most art school libraries and large public libraries have such collections; one of the best known and well loved features of the New York Public Library is the Mid-Manhattan Picture Collection. Another reason is that the Library believes that the historicity of the material is preserved when the object remains whole. In a spirit similar to the argument for microfilming old newspapers with their advertisements, the Library sees no reason to detach these images from their published context. Unlike images that have been removed from their sources, the information contained within a unified object is multidimensional—its images, words, layout, historical peculiarities, and design choices all become potential source material for the Library’s users. And finally, the Library resists the temptation to remove and collocate similar images because it values serendipity; the Library believes that the juxtapositions that occur between the books, images, and texts of its collection may lead its patrons into fruitful creative territory.
Q: Can I help out in any way?
Yes! You sure can! In fact, an entire section of this website is dedicated to good people just like you! Please contact the Library at info@reanimationlibrary.org in order to find out the best way to become involved.
What on earth are you talking about?