Copley Library Annual Report 2022-2023

Library Exhibits

Artists’ Books at Play: An Exhibit of Books Selected From Copley Library’s Artists’ Book Collection (Spring 2023–Summer 2023) This exhibit featured books that are works of art in both concept and intention. These books playfully engage their readers in the act of looking and reading while often subverting established genres--sometimes the result is purely for pleasure, but often the artists use these works to discuss serious social and personal issues. The exhibit also featured video of Mexican book artist Derli Romero’s artists’ book Dextra/Sinistra and the process of its creation with fire, branding irons, and paper.

Celebrating Juneteenth (June 2023) Primarily highlighting Juneteenth’s origin story at the close of the Civil War and its path to federal recognition in 2021.This exhibit also reveals the holiday’s customs and practices that have developed along the way.

Department of Anthropology — Hostile Terrain 94 Exhibition In Spring 2023, Dr. Marni LaFleur, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology worked with Copley Library to host an adapted version of Hostile Terrain 94 in the lobby of Copley’s lower level. As a participatory exhibition created by the Undocumented Migration Project, the exhibition visually displayed the deaths of undocumented migrants on California soil (or waterways). Visitors were asked to reflect upon U.S. border policy and the violence it inflicted on vulnerable people. The exhibition included information on how to support humane migration and featured a creative space where visitors wrote messages, produced art and left altar offerings for the deceased migrants.

2022–2023 ANNUAL REPORT | 5