Artist Residencies in Libraries
We Just Aim to Print Well: The University of Sydney Library Printer in Residence
Celia Brown (USydney)
Abstract: At a time when space in any academic library is at a premium, when we sometimes need to argue for shelf space rather than computers and group work pods, the University of Sydney Library has decided not only to keep and maintain its 19th Century printing press but to bring it to the fore through a printer in residence program. Now in its third year, the program brings together a printmaker and a letterpress printer for 8 weeks during the semester.
The brief is to engage with the library and its users, to bring the print workshop to life, to draw inspiration from the library’s collection, and to create a publication for the Artists’ Book Collection as part of Rare Books. In an era of instant layout, digital word processing, and electronic publishing what does the slow and laborious process of letterpress printing bring to a 21st Century academic library?
This residency demonstrates that there’s still space for the process of hand making a publication to be as vital and alive as the content of that publication. One letter at a time.
About: Celia is an Academic Liaison Librarian at the University of Sydney. She has worked closely with creative practitioners for the last 7 years, both at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and currently Sydney College of the Arts.
She has coordinated the Printer in Residence program since its inception in 2018 and loves working with the artists and the letterpress form. She has presented previously at the 2016 ARLIS conference, co-presenting a paper “How do artists use libraries?”. Celia holds a Graduate Diploma of Information Management (UTS Sydney) and a BA in Anthropology and Performance Studies (University of Sydney)..
