Desecration as Conversation: Unorthodox Engagement with Library Materials

Using the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education's "Scholarship as Conversation" as a conceptual basis, this presentation will explore marginalia and other examples of creatively unique ways in which library users directly engage with music-related materials through what some might call "destructive" means. This engagement includes user-inscribed "graffiti," wherein new and unexpected commentary, corrections, and considerations are manually applied to printed content. Taken further, this engagement also encompasses bolder artistic interventions through which entire books, for example, are reimagined, reconfigured, and transformed into newly repurposed resources or art objects. Unlike analyses that focus solely on preservation challenges, this presentation reframes such interactions as vital contributions, offering a distinct perspective on the use of library resources. The concept (or "frame") of "Scholarship as Conversation" (Association of College and Research Libraries ACRL, 2016) asserts that scholarship is "...part of an ongoing conversation in which information users and creators come together and negotiate meaning," reminding us to "recognize that scholarly conversations take place in various venues" and to "value user-generated content and evaluate contributions made by others." Library materials that have been intentionally annotated or "marked up" – through handwriting, drawings, underlinings, highlights, etc. – or otherwise altered by users can reveal fascinating discoveries and facilitate the building and sharing of knowledge within a collection or community, enhancing or adding value to future users' experiences. By highlighting compelling visual examples from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) Library, this presentation will demonstrate how this type of extreme user engagement – more than mere "damage" – uncovers richer layers of meaning. Attendees will leave with a reframed perspective on use, understanding how marginalia and other alterations offer unique insights into user engagement that can inform collection development, cataloging practices, access policies, and pedagogical approaches. Ultimately, this session will illuminate how these behaviors reinforce existing artistic or scholarly conversations, and can even result in new ones, showcasing the complex, collaborative nature of knowledge creation and exchange within library collections.