Exhibit Overview

“A library is a growing organism,” reads the fifth “rule” of library science as penned in 1931 by S.R. Ranganathan, who is widely considered to be the father of library science. In a world where “library” and “book” have taken on vast new meanings, it’s the last of Ranganathan’s five guiding principles that prompts us to continuously respond to our environment and deeply interrogate the ways we curate, collect, organize, and preserve information for generations to come. 

As much as the home to all the world’s memory has changed since 1931, one aspect of the Library has remained constant: it is created and maintained by workers who, more often than not, remain unseen and under-recognized. While many books investigate the history and cultural meanings of libraries, popular titles are frequently authored by scholars external to the diverse and intricate work that happens within their walls. 

Rule N° 5, by contrast, is a collaboratively-created work that centers the voices of the workers at the heart of these institutions. It examines practices and objects that shape how we can search, who we will find, and what we remember.

 Rule N° 5 is an interactive audio experience: we invite you to open doors and drawers, plug in, and push buttons to explore and contemplate what it means to collect the world’s knowledge, preserve the past, and shape the future. Tune into transmissions from the magical, mysterious, complicated, and controversial world of libraries. 

Honors & Awards

Rule N° 5 is the recipient of the 2024 National Council on Public History Outstanding Public History Project Award and the 2023 American Library Association Innovation and Advocacy in Library History Award.

To experience each of the six interactive sculptures that make up Rule N° 5, click on the images below.