the lower case reading room zines and things
architecture | the regional assembly of text by grey hernandez
reading accomodation pr ivacy adaptation l ibrar ies
There are other larger and more complete zine libraries. The Anchor in Halifax, or ZAAP! in Seattle and in Vancouver The Purple Thistle, have extensive collections, as well as residency programs, lecture series, and workshops. But none manages to do so much with so little. This was not The Regional Assembly of Text’s original intention. When the Emily Carr graduates took over the space from Lucky Comics, it was being used as an office. Gradually it was transformed into an art gallery, complete with a curator and opening night parties. That such a small space required so much effort to maintain became an issue, and so the lowercase reading room was born. In doing so, it has became a beacon for bibliophiles, comic nerds, typography enthusiasts, print makers, and artists across the city.
Libraries, by their nature, are often ambitious monuments to nationalism or architectural ego. The reader can be an afterthought, which in part is what makes the lowercase reading room so charming. Coming in at just under 3m 2 , what is possibly the smallest library in the world is located in a stationary store in Vancouver. Housed in a former closet, the lowercase reading room was started in 2005 by Rebecca Dolan and Brandy Fedoruk as a means of housing their zine collection. In a space just big enough to stuff a vacuum, the founders of the Regional Assembly of Text have managed to amass and display one of the best collections of small books in the country.
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On Site review 23 Small Things
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