dubois library @ the museum of photographic arts

Success!

For the last month, the Dubois Library has been hosting a book drive for local non-profit Words Alive, and drumroll, please…more than 300 books were collected! Thank you to all who donated! These books will be distributed throughout the community to kids who might not otherwise have access to books, and it has been wonderful participating in something that will have a direct impact on someone’s life. Books were collected at both MoPA Family Film Days in April and May, and the Special Libraries Association San Diego Chapter also contributed during their May program held at the Dubois Library. Thanks again everyone, you truly made the book drive a fantastic success!

(Photo Courtesy of Cornell University Library’s Flickr Photostream)


Library Maps!

Feeling lost in the Library? Need a little help? Try these…


Book Drive!

In honor of National Library Week, the Dubois Library at MoPA will be hosting a book drive to benefit Words Alive, a local non-profit dedicated to inspiring young and old alike to read. We will be collecting new and gently used books for ages 0-18 for an entire month, April 9-May 16. On April 9, MoPA’s monthly Family Film program will be screening Matilda at 1pm, and admission is free with a suggested book donation. After the film, there will be bookmark-making activities, storytime and lots of good fun. (Plus there are some fantastic exhibitions up right now, come check them out!) Hope to see you there, but if you can’t make it be sure to drop off your books…it’s for a great cause!


Top 10 List…

Everyone has an “end of the year, best, most influential, you should pay attention to these” list, so I thought the Library should have one too. Of course, since books don’t circulate in this collection, it is difficult to assess the most popular items. Books in the Library are used by staff for exhibitions, students for research, and visitors just for fun. So, based on nothing but my own opinion…here it is, drumroll please, the top 10 most “appreciated, well-regarded, books that I like quite a bit” in the Dubois Library this year (not in any particular order, ha!):

1. Taking Aim: unforgettable rock ‘n’ roll photographs, G. Nash, 2009.
2. The Disciples, J. Mollison, 2008.
3. The Printed Picture, R. Benson, 2008.
4. The Oxford Companion to the Photograph, R. Lenman, 2009.
5. André Kertész, M. Frizot, 2010.
6. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland: Illustrated By Maggie Taylor, 2008.
7. The Americans, R. Frank, 2008.
8. Looking In, S. Greenough, 2009.
9. Brought to Light: Photography & the Invisible, 1840-1900 (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), 2008.
10. The Photobook: A History, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, 2004 & 2006.


Definitely worth seeing!

The Dubois Library was recently featured in the San Diego Union Tribune, in an article written by arts blogger Joe Nalven.

The Library was also highlighted in the September/October 2010 issue of The Professional (the newsletter of the Professional Photographers of San Diego, PPSDC), as well as the October 2010 issue of the Scholar’s Notebook (the newsletter of the San Diego Independent Scholars, SDIS).

We can’t help but feel flattered, and promise not to let all this fame go to our heads. We agree that the Library is definitely worth seeing, and look forward to seeing you soon!


Making a list, checking it twice…

gonna find out that the Library’s been nice!

If you’re feeling like Santa Claus (or would just like to be a kind and generous donor to the Dubois Library at the Museum of Photographic Arts), please see our Amazon wishlist. We would be honored to be on your gift list this year, and appreciate all of our amazing donors!

Thank you & Happy Holidays from the Dubois Library!


I have no attention span in December

…which is why every year, around this time, I stop reading books and start obsessing with magazines. Anything I can flip through easily, something that can provide an escape for just a few moments, some dazzling images or just a couple of poignant words, with little commitment from my brain or my schedule. Not to say that many magazines don’t offer intense articles and critique that demand quiet reflection and study…just to say that this month is so often packed to the brim, I can’t do it. I breeze right past those pages and make a note to come back later. Too many sparkling lights and pretty packages, I guess.

The Dubois Library maintains 20 subscriptions to various types of photography periodicals, just perfect for a short attention span in December (and then you can resolve to come back and read the articles in January!).

Take a peek (but there’s more too! Shots, Film Comment, Art in America, études photographiques, Blind Spot, Contact Sheet…):


Candy, Candy, Candy!

I can’t stand to look at another piece of Halloween candy, and the Holiday candy is already on the grocery store shelves! Geesh! So, in honor of all of the candy surrounding us this time of year, the Dubois Library offers up a little candy of it’s own…eye candy that is, aka recent additions to the collection. Enjoy!

From left to right: The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today (MoMA, 2010); Auto Focus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography, Susan Bright (Monacelli Press, 2010); Days with my Father, Phillip Toledano (Chronicle Books, 2010); and The Great Unreal, Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs (Edition Patrick Frey, 2009).


Dubois Library on the go!

Now you can search the Dubois Library’s catalog whenever and wherever you need to! LibraryWorld (the proprietors of our online catalog) has launched a mobile version…just type in http://www.libraryworld.com/mobile on your phone browser. This will bring up the login page. Type in Dubois Library for the library name (no password is required) and press the Sign In button. There you have it, easy peasy!

Please note, only 80% or so of the Library’s actual holdings are available for searching via the online catalog. We’re working to get it all in there as quickly as possible, but if you aren’t finding all the amazing photography books and magazines you were looking for, don’t fret. Send us an email or give us a call…we’ll see if we have it for you, or know where you can find it.

Happy searching!


New Hours!

More great changes are happening at the Library…starting after Labor Day, the Dubois Library will be open Mondays-Thursdays from 8:30am-2:30pm, closed on Fridays. Please email or call to make an appointment, and come check out the fantastic collection of over 20,000 books on photography!

Ahead of the new hours, the Library will be closed August 30-September 6 for a much needed summer break. See you at the beach!

To hold you over until we re-open, here’s a sampling of some new acquisitions: (almost forgot to add the titles! from left to right: The Digital Eye: Photographic Art in the Electronic Age, Sylvia Wolf; The Pleasures of Good Photographs, Gerry Badger; Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970-1980, Kevin Moore, et al.).


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