This blog post has several videos and will take a long time to watch all of them.
Over the years I made 5 sketchbooks that went to live in New York City at the Brooklyn Art Library.
Sadly the library is now closed. And last year there was a fire that damaged quite a few books while on tour. The books that are not damaged will be shared and donated to several different libraries and museums around the United States. Places are still to be determined however.
I found out about both of these tragic things in January 2023. Somehow I was not notified by email, but still, I found out. It was a while before I could bring myself to find out if my books were hurt or moved to a new location.
First I'll share a video from when I visited the library in NYC in 2018 so that I could see my book on their shelves. Until very recently I had a few reproductions of this sketchbook, but now I only have one for my archives.
Next, I'd like to share with you how my books fared in the fire. Not well... sadly.
This was when I learned that 3 of 5 of my books are gone forever. How about I share another video before we all get too sad? Also, I did not keep a copy of subsequent books because I trusted that the library would have my work in their care and that felt like enough for me after my visit to NYC.
This one below is almost certainly one of the books that is forever gone, the library had a traveling tour of their smallest books and this book is tiny! The fire happened in their traveling tour van.
Oh my, this is a difficult blog post to write. Here is another very likely missing forever sketchbook via video.
All I can say, is that I am glad I made videos of the books before I shipped them to The Sketchbook Library in Brooklyn.
Below is yet one more video for the collection. In the video I called this sketchbook my 4th book in their collection. When I look up my name I find 5. I remember making 5 for them, but I seem not to have 5 sketchbook videos... of the work I sent them, only 4! I have one un-archived book.
Well, that's that! My books do and don't live on in NYC. Super sad, for me but more so for the people that ran the awesome very personal library for 17 years!
Going down this memory lane has actually been cathartic. I am realizing that putting my ideas together with words and images feels very, very me!
No wonder why I am creating a monthly zine these days!
SuzZine is all me putting my ideas into words and images every month for you!