Checking Out Books

There are eight million stories in the naked city, as the saying goes, but only 765,000 people live in Fog City. Still, folks here more than make up for the difference with our love of the printed page. Witness our support for independent booksellers and reading series, not to mention the precisely 7,685,892 items circulated through San Francisco's public libraries last year, according to the library’s own audit. But how to tally the treasured hardcovers and worn-out paperbacks we have tucked away in our houses and apartments? As part of the Ground Scores series, artist Michael Swaine's "How to Organize a Public Library" attempts to do just that. Swaine takes participants, curiosity seekers, and literary voyeurs on a walking tour through one another's houses to view their private collections, share stories about their stories, and in the process get to know one another better. Or, at the least, know whom to ask about borrowing that long-awaited best-seller. (Note: You don’t have to volunteer your residence for the tour to participate.)

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