User:Simon/pre & post lockdown overview

state of the project before the lockdown

This summary provides an overview of the project as it was at lockdown on March 13th, 2020.

state of the project now

As it is not possible to continue with publicly programmed events, I have turned my focus to documentation of the project as it ran from July 2019 to March 2020.

the index

A central focus is on the index. The thesis text I produced is in the form of an index of A6 printed cards, and my plan is to leave behind an index when the library closes (see below).

A large part of the project revolved around the use of the PDF file format, both as commonly included file in the digital library, as well as one produced to republish printed books for the physical bootleg library.

I am currently working with scripts that work with the digital library's metadata.db file, a python library called calibrestekje written by Luke Murphy, ReportLab and platypus (pdf engines) to produce A6 index cards. My thesis is that the library is a collection; of texts and also the readers collected around them. The bootleg library is a social infrastructure which represents knowledge and readers on an equal footing. My plan is to include both of these in the index that I will publish.

what were the next steps you were planning to take before the lockdown

Before lockdown, my plan was to continue the three main activities of the bootleg library:

1) bootlegging, republishing and distributing printed books

2) conducting bootleg library sessions in various locations

3) producing texts

These three activities are intertwined. The bootlegged and republished books are used at bootleg library sessions to activate discussion, and produce texts (here I am using the word "text" to mean not only written words, but also conversations that are elicited and metadata written for books that are uploaded at bootleg library sessions).

I had been invited to take part in several public events that were also to add to the project, prior to the lockdown.

1. I was invited to organise events as part of Onomatopee's Meeting Grounds project, including a bootleg library session, a Marginal Conversations workshop, a radio show interview and a joint workshop with representatives of Varia and XPPL, which we called the "Boekstekje Bureau". These were to take place throughout March. I conducted one bootleg library session at Onomatopee on March 6th, before the entire public program (as a series of meetups) was postponed due to the lockdown. Meeting Grounds moved to an online series of events focusing on online public spaces, and an upcoming publication. I was invited to contribute to this publication, for which I have written an essay, titled text, tbc, that examines the editorial, technical and social perspectives on text, and Etherpad as an exemplar of these.
2. I was invited to participate in an exhibition in Amsterdam, curated by a well-known curatorial institution. The exhibition could not go ahead due to the lockdown, but they have expressed interest in curating a different kind of format of a publication, for which I have suggested publishing my thesis text Tasks of the Contingent Librarian.
3. I was planning to run another bootleg library session at Page Not Found, a cultural space in the Hague. This was to happen on May 15th. It is assumed that this event is now cancelled.
4. I had also been invited to participate in a media art festival in Austria. It is uncertain if this will go ahead.

My plan was to continue organising public events (mostly in the form of bootleg library sessions), at least one each month.

what are the next steps you need to take with the your project given the new situation

The bootleg library was never intended to exist in perpetuity. My plan was (and remains) to close the library. This gesture of "closure" and what the library can leave behind remains an interest and intention.