is a center for contemporary art in Southeast Portland, Oregon. It is led by a desire to support emerging and under-acknowledged contemporary artists, propose new modes of production, and stimulate the ongoing public discourse around art. SUPPORT. 800 SE 10th Avenue, (503) 236-7996. EMAIL.

LIBRARY

YU

Though it will grow, the immediate iteration of our library is consciously unassuming. Housed in the smallest room at Yale Union, the library’s footprint is less than 100 square feet.

“A library is a collection of books kept for use.” It’s hard to imagine a more concise definition of a library than this one, given by the Indian mathematician and librarian S.R. Ranganathan (1892–1972) in The Five Laws of Library Science (Madras Library Association, 1931). This principle statement appears simple, almost reductive—yet, it bears the kernel through which all other aspects of his writing are organized. Ranganathan’s precise definition practically demonstrates the library’s essential structure animated by its readership. To think about libraries is to think about thought and how to best provide hospitality through the design of the space, furnishings, ease of information retrieval and the advocacy of access. This mixture of practical prescription and broad gesture is expressed in Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science:

1. BOOKS ARE FOR USE.
2. EVERY READER HIS [OR HER] BOOK.
3. EVERY BOOK ITS READER.
4. SAVE THE TIME OF THE USER.
5. THE LIBRARY IS A GROWING ORGANISM.”

From David Senior’s Infinite Hospitality, care of Dexter Sinister.

The Library is open to the public on Sundays from 1pm-6pm or by appointment. The Library is non-circulating. A bibliography is available.

Library Shelving

YU Library, 2011.