Help In These Times raise $10,000 in three weeks! Donate now to support original and incisive journalism!

Creating the 21st Century Library

The Prelinger Library eschews the Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress systems, and is organized instead by what Megan Shaw Prelinger calls “a map of my brain”

By Aaron Sarver

When you enter the Prelinger Library in San Francisco, the first thing you notice is “rock star” librarian Nancy Pearl—in action figure form. It’s the first hint that you’ve stepped inside an unconventional library. Megan and Rick Prelinger’s vision of engaged learning is at odds with the weighty atmosphere that often pervades spaces containing 40,000 items—ranging from books to maps to… return to article

Also by Aaron Sarver
Popular Discussions