Public Library: An American Commons | Robert Dawson Photography

<body> <h1> | Robert Dawson Photography</h1> <h2>Robert Dawson Photography</h2> <div>San Francisco Photographer Robert Dawson's projects examine western American water, global water, American Public Libraries, the legacy of the New Deal, California's environment, California's agricultural heartland, and the state of California. </div> <span class="links"><a href="/index.html" target="_top"><font color="#989898">Home</font></a></span>   <span class="links"><strong><a href="/portfolio.html" target="_top"><font color="#444">noPortfolio</font></a></strong></span>   <span class="links"><a href="/content.html?page=3" target="_top"><font color="#989898"> Events, Lectures, etc. </font></a></span>   <span class="links"><a href="/content.html?page=4" target="_top"><font color="#989898">Contact Info</font></a></span>   <span class="links"><a href="/content.html?page=6" target="_top"><font color="#989898">Project Descriptions</font></a></span>   <span class="links"><a href="/content.html?page=7" target="_top"><font color="#989898">Books</font></a></span>   <span class="links"><a href="/content.html?page=8" target="_top"><font color="#989898">Bio</font></a></span> <div> <style>  </style> <div class="encloser contentSpan" > <span class="encloser" > <center><script src="/js/jquery.tools.min.js"></script> <style type="text/css">#flashGallery { display: inline; width: 450px; height:358px; margin: 0; padding:0px; } </style> <div align="center" id="flashGallery"> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> flashembed("flashGallery", { src:"/sw_MediaPlayer_220.swf?11927891", version:[9,45], expressInstall:'/expressInstall.swf', width:'450', height:'358', scale:'noscale', wmode:'transparent', salign:'LT' }, { sw_URLAppend: '/media-xml.html%3Fpid=RobertDawson6569%26slideGallery=Public%2520Library%253a%2520An%2520American%2520Commons%26stagecolor=ffffff' }); </script></center> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: center;"><em>"Robert Dawson's work is an irrefutable argument for the preservation of public libraries.</em><em>His book is profound and heartbreakingly beautiful." - Toni Morrison</em><br />  </p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">This</span><strong> project is a photographic survey of public libraries throughout the United States</strong> featuring essays on libraries and the public commons from prominent American writers. The book <em><strong>The Public Library: A Photographic Essay</strong></em> was published in April, 2014 by Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 978-1-61689-217-3</p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">There are over 17,000 public libraries in this country. Since I began the project in 1994, I have photographed hundreds of libraries in forty-eight states. From Alaska to Florida, New England to the West Coast, the photographs reveal a vibrant, essential, yet threatened system.</p> <p style="margin-left:.5in;">For the past two centuries public libraries in America have functioned as a system of noncommercial centers that help us define what we value and what we share. The modern library in the computer age is in the midst of reinventing itself. What belongs in a library? In what form do we want to preserve information and culture? More books are being published than ever before, yet library budgets are shrinking and many local branches operate under a constant, very real threat of closure. More is also being demanded of our libraries, as they move beyond their role as centers for books and knowledge to becoming centers for community.</p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">A public library can mean different things to different people. For me, the library offers our best example of the public commons. For many, the library upholds the nineteenth-century belief that the future of democracy is contingent upon an educated citizenry. For others, the library simply means free access to the Internet, or a warm place to take shelter, a chance for an education, or the endless possibilities that jump to life in your imagination the moment you open the cover of a book.</p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">For more information, press inquiries, or to join the mailing list, please email Robert Dawson at <a href="mailto:landscape@igc.org">landscape@igc.org</a>. For further information about the book contact Diane Levinson at Princeton Architectural Press at diane@papress, 212 995-9620 ext. 214. Princeton's address is www.papress.com</p> <p> </p> </span> </div> <div> <script src="/js/js.js"></script> <script defer src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js" data-pin-build="parsePinBtns"></script> </body>