Almost books
The Casi libros (Almost Books) programme of experimental mediation is an initiative from the Museo Reina Sofía’s Library and Documentation Centre team and sets forth an approach to their spaces, holdings and services, stretching beyond their characteristics as research platforms around contemporary art.
A book as a common element
Its action lines — some developed inside the Library, others developed outside — start from the book as a common and galvanising element and give rise to different projects and activities.
The reading club Other Books, And That.
Magnetised Needle, a programme of Library visits
Look Closely, a programme which trains users in the Library’s artistic and documentary holdings
Leave the Margin, a series of visits around the Museo’s Collection.
The programme explores the Library as a reflexive and participatory area, from which links between citizens and its artistic and documentary holdings can surface.
Other books, and that
Reading club
This reading club takes its name from the bookshop Ulises Carrión founded in Amsterdam in 1975 to allude to the bibliographic possibilities found there and the plural nature of oddities covered under the nomenclature “and so”.
This literary endeavour, open to visitors of all stripes, has no place in the framework of a bookshop. Rather, it fits into the context of the Museo, where hundreds of actions on different scales — at times interwoven or distant — take place. As in Carrión’s bookshop, there are multiple possibilities and rarities that this reading club offers through joint exploration.
The Library and Documentation Centre is a living space housing major art and documentary holdings which take on new forms, readings and meanings by way of Magnetised Needle, a programme of guided tours structured in two formats: one aligned towards discovering the history, spaces and services of the Library and Documentation Centre, and another offering explorations of documentary exhibitions in Space D.
This action line focuses on offering training to users around the art and documentary holdings of the Museo Reina Sofía Library and Documentation Centre. In addition, it disseminates different specialist tools for art and contemporary creation research via a series of formats ranging from workshops, courses, and thematic guides that aim to ensure Library users can discover and possess the necessary resources to undertake their research.
Artworks hold an intra-history which is often overlooked when contemplated. It is through documentation generated by artists, essays written by critics or other literary pieces serving as inspiration that this hidden narrative which is an inherent part of the artwork can be unearthed.
Leave the Margin is a new way of approaching the Museo Reina Sofía Collection by means of a series of readings of art and documentary holdings housed in the Library and Documentation Centre. Through this transversal perspective, the document reveals not only its role in an understanding of historical-artistic contexts, but also takes on value through dialogue and in coming face to face with other pieces in the Museo.
El proyecto "Casi libros" del Museo Reina Sofía fue finalista en 2022 en la categoría de Bibliotecas Especializadas, una distinción otorgada por el Consejo de Cooperación Bibliotecaria. Este reconocimiento destaca la innovación y el impacto de "Casi libros", una iniciativa que explora la frontera entre el libro y el arte, integrando prácticas artísticas contemporáneas con el mundo editorial. El proyecto ha sido valorado por su capacidad de fomentar el acceso al conocimiento y la cultura, así como por su enfoque interdisciplinario que enriquece tanto el ámbito bibliotecario como el artístico.