We really appreciate these donations. The books you have sent the past three years have really helped to build our collection of art books. We have a large community of artists in coastal Maine, and many in our area use the library art collection.

I am an artist in charge of curating our art, drawing, and photography sections at DC Books to Prisons. Despite being in extremely high demand, these categories have been chronically undersupplied, in part because art books are relatively expensive. Although the organization does occasionally purchase very basic how-to-draw books, these fly off the shelf and often the only thing I have left to send an inmate with an interest in making or seeing art is a photocopied handout on basic drawing. Also, because of the high demand, I am only permitted to send out one book or handout in any given category, which can result in some rather sad packages that hardly meet the spirit of the requests.

We get letters all the time about how the books we send out are valued and help humanize a crushingly brutal institutional existence. However, the dearth of art and photography books has been a constant source of frustration until I discovered A.R.T. Library Program. Your program is a huge godsend and I do want to express how large an impact this will have on our ability to meet the demand for art books. I personally am very committed to this topic because I feel art and creativity have the ability to nurture and heal the human psyche, and heaven knows this is what incarcerated individuals need and crave.

We were overjoyed to hear the A.R.T. program is now offering unlimited orders throughout the year. This is incredibly beneficial for patrons of all ages, exposing people to different kinds of art and promoting literacy. This program allows us to provide library patrons with a range of information we never would be able to otherwise.

Reading has been a crucial part of my life from the time I was nine or ten. It was, and still is, an adventure into a different place or time. The novels of Jules Verne, Walter Scott, Alexander Dumas, but also an encyclopedia I read entry after entry. The pleasures of reading have always been connected to the physical qualities of the printed book.

The availabilty of printed books and teaching of reading/writing have been major parts of education, and that we should know how to read is often taken for granted. But there is little discussion of how those abilities are used.

Art Resources Transfer, and their Library Program, for which I am grateful, redistributes books and offers tools for how to use them. This results in the empowerment of the individual in the form of an encouraged, self-aware perception of the world. As soon as empowerment is introduced, the politics around the distribution of power becomes an indissoluble part of the educational process.

— Luis Camnitzer, 2022 A.R.T. Honoree

The D.U.C’s commitment to books is not only a commitment to writers, makers, designers, and readers; and to the libraries that house, care, and lend books. But it is also a commitment to all margins (physical, social, economic, ideological, sexual, ethnic, cultural, spiritual, etc.) and to what is said and unsaid between lines and images. (1)

(1) "Two things: I seem to be stuck quoting the writer and artist Jalal Toufic whenever I am asked to write. Here I go again, from his book What Was I Thinking: “You can allow yourself when reading a bad writer not to notice many things in the book because neither the writer nor the book registered them. But in a fine book, while the writer may not have noticed them, his or her book would have registered them, that is, they have consequences elsewhere in the book. For example, some things in a fine book will seem arbitrary if we do not take into consideration the literal meaning of figurative expressions, for instance, “dead silence” (in the case of “dead silence” the nonliteral meaning, “complete silence,” and the literal one fit well, since the only complete silence, silence-over, which cannot be interrupted by sounds, is encountered or undergone in death and produces a dead stop [“dead: 9. (only before noun) complete: a dead stop”, i.e., immobilizes one). One sign that one is dealing with journalism: figurative expressions are used and function almost always only in the figurative sense; in literature when a figurative expression is used, the literal sense too has to be taken into consideration, so if someone is described as more dead than alive, these words do not simply mean “hurt and in a very poor state” (Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd edition, 2016) —indeed the figurative expression is in a way used mainly to convey in an esoteric manner the literal sense. However poor the health of the resurrected brother of Mary and Martha (who was solely alive since resurrected by the life) might have been at some point prior to his second physical demise, and however hurt Jesus Christ, “the life” (John 11:25), was while on the cross, a great book of literature or religion would not describe either as “more dead than alive.” When said about a mortal, three sorts of people would have understood “he was more dead than alive” only in the figurative sense, as “he was hurt and in a very poor state” (A): a journalist/bad writer; a mortal, who is dead while still physically alive, in disavowal of his or her condition; and the disoriented mortal who suspects that he’s already “in” the labyrinth and has realized that noticing signs and landmarks would then be not a manner of finding out where he is and avoiding continuing to be lost “in” the labyrinth, but, misleadingly, a manner of getting more entangled “in” the labyrinth, and that he will not leave the labyrinth, which is not simply spatial, by opening some door and walking out but rather by a suspension of interpretation and an eclipse of meaning. “How to Read a Dostoevsky Novel as If One Is Reading a Newspaper?”: that could be the title of a workshop I could one day give to those who, most often one or two semesters after attending my seminar on the labyrinth, may rush into my office panicked that they are now discovering in newspapers lower depths and cryptic notes from the underground worthy of Dostoevsky.”

And, I can’t remember what drew me to paper books. But I do recall being drawn as much to the writings and images within, as to the object itself: its shape, weight, smell, color, form, cover, binding, texture, font, margins, notes, preface, footnotes, bibliography. Used books captivated me as much as new ones, especially if their previous owners marked them in highly personal ways, bending page corners, writing (hopefully something thought-provoking) or drawing between printed lines or on margins. D.U.C’s commitment to books is not only a commitment to writers, makers, designers, and readers; and to the libraries that house, care, and lend books. But it is also a commitment to all margins (physical, social, economic, ideological, sexual, ethnic, cultural, spiritual, etc.) and to what is said and unsaid between lines and images." (B)

– Walid Raad, 2021 A.R.T. Honoree

(A) All figurative expressions prove to be literal in one realm or another (death, dance, etc.). It is crucial though, as long as one is aware that they are borrowings from the literal sense, to liberate them as figurative expressions.

(B) Toufic, Jalal. What Was I Thinking? Berlin: e-flux journal-Sternberg Press, 2017. 101-102.

... Our library resides in a rural county, with many of our patrons having issues with transportation, finances, and adult literacy. As such, we are always looking for ways to enrich our library, and to find the funds necessary to keep us running for the Wayne County Community. Our staff was thrilled to find out that we could request books yearly through your program.

By allowing us to request the numerous art books available, the Library Program enables us to enrich our community by providing the different perspectives to our patrons. Art books tend to be over budget for our branch, so our collection of art materials is very small. With the help of the art books we have received from you, the selection we have available has grown and expanded its horizons. Our library just recently received our yearly request for titles, which we were glad to add to our catalog. We were especially thrilled at receiving the African American Masterworks Exhibition books. Wayne County is a majority white area, but we are slowly growing into a multicultural community. Diversity is one of the ideals we strive to follow with our library collection, and with your support, we can uphold it.

Our library hopes that the Library Program will be able to continue in the future, as it contributes so much to our collection every year. We will certainly be looking forward to requesting more titles in the coming years.

... Thanks to the Library Program, our library was able to add 23 books and exhibition catalogs to our collection at no cost. We would not have acquired these items without your program. We found your service to be excellent and we appreciate that you even pay for shipping.

KCAI is a four year college of art and design in mid-town Kansas City. Because the library budget is tuition driven, our funds are limited and we must be very selective in our book purchases. You allowed us to add extremely relevant books to our collection that will be enjoyed by our students, faculty and our neighborhood community for years to come. The items will be used for research, inspiration, and enjoyment by our diverse community of patrons. We truly appreciate your efforts.

I just wanted to take a few minutes to express my gratitude for the book donation to our school district. I have shared the books with both our Art teachers within the district as well as added books to both our MSHS Library and our Elementary Library. The art teachers were overwhelmingly grateful! I do feel these new books will enhance our collection. I myself are very grateful to be able to share these donations with them to build their classroom collections.

We sincerely appreciate your program. These books will complement our campus art collection and our art gallery, which is coordinated by the folks at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and features works from FWMoA. The current campus exhibit is a component of our Black Lives Matter programming. Our gallery is in the same building as the library and both are open to the public.

We have paintings, prints, photographs, and sculptures throughout campus (in a curated collection) and will use these art books as part of our efforts to promote the arts to the greater Fort Wayne community.

Dear Art Resources Transfer,

Thank you so much for the beautiful books! They are going to make people so happy.

Walking Books Library is teeny tiny so we have the flexibility to develop access to books individually. There are already two ladies in elder housing who are looking forward to them. I think we will drop about five art books off each month that they can share between them and with other residents if they take an interest also. That way they can go through the whole collection you sent us in a year without having to leave home. For the teen homeless shelter, I think I am going to take the art postcards you sent and put them in plastic sheets in a binder. I want to find something they can take for free at the same time (we were first known for our free, new books). Maybe ziplocs with postcard sized paper and some art supplies they can take on the go? I will percolate on this. The Wegman dog book and the book on various flags will be very good for people who aren't sure they like art. We are very rural here so sometimes arty things can feel off-putting to some people. Besides the places mentioned, your books will be accessible to low income people within a thirty mile radius of my village. This includes trailers, cabins, and old farmhouses that I walk books to each month (thus Walking Books Library). People can also call ahead and drop by to get books (I run it out of my trailer).

Your donation is reaching a lot of people who work hard but may have had too much life going on to finish high school or go to college or who may feel uncomfortable visiting a traditional library or bookstore. We don't require forms or library cards and work by trust and also joyfulness. Your donation did not add to our art section, it allowed us to START one. You have made a huge impact here both on me personally, my village and the surrounding communities. We thank you.

— Kelly Serns Walking Books Library East Dixfield, ME

Dear Board of Trustees:

As Library Director for a small rural library in upstate New York the receipt of the books from the Poulin Project has been a wonderful addition to our collection. Located in one of the poorest counties in the State of New York, and having a very limited budget for book acquisitions, the books received in Art and Poetry gave an additional enriching and educational level to our shelves. We work with many special need adults and seniors, many of whom share a love for books and especially art. These books have given visual inspiration to create and as a result we have several originals displayed from prose, to watercolor and graphic design. Our sincerest thanks for including our little library in this special and generous project. We hope to be included in the years to come in our mission to serve, educate and enrich our community.

Sincerely, Angela Heroux Library Director Elizabethtown Library, 2017

The D.U.C. does great work to ensure that books on arts and culture reach a wide audience in public schools, libraries and prisons across the United States. The value of books was instilled in me early on and I am honored to be involved in a program that distributes books and promotes reading. Books open up the world, making it accessible in ways it wouldn't otherwise be. A book is a journey to somewhere else.

I placed an order for several books and am really looking forward to getting them. I received good feedback on those ordered last year - I particularly remember a patron who pulled me aside to thank us for obtaining one of the books, Between artists. Our community is a small arts community, and I like to feed that part of their soul as much as we can. Your program makes it possible for us to feature items we otherwise could not afford, nor even recognize as potential titles without D.U.C. Thank you.

— Steve Harsin, Grand Marais Public Library, Grand Marais MN, 2015