The Open Office for Words is a cross-disciplinary thematic reference library that comes into being for a few hours every month. Its premise is to function as a momentary culmination and dissemination of (written) knowledge, made possible by the collective act of sharing ones texts whether part of a literary or theoretical tradition. The hopeful wish and intention of The Open Office For Words is to facilitate the pooling together of resources in a friendly, semi-intimate space and to create a situation that can allow for chance meetings and conversations between people across different disciplines interested in similar subjects, as well as quiet reading.
How it works: Through a mail-out, you will be informed about the next thematic topic. You can then search through your own resources and see whether you have something to contribute. The users of The Office are then invited and welcomed to bring in reading material, such as books, journals, research papers and images related to the months thematic topic. It is also possible to contribute artworks, documentaries and interviews on a dvd-format. Note: the connections between source materials and topics can be loose as well as explicit, however they should not be purely associative.
Inform The Office in advance about any possible material that you may have and wish to contribute. Then bring it with you. You can also mail in text suggestions.
Participants can not lend the material out, but rather use The Open Office as a reading room in order to be inspired, informed and introduced to how ideas and related topics are dealt and covered within various fields, such as literature, cultural theory, philosophy and the arts. Where certain key texts are not present, a readinglist will be (collectively) put together.
There will be a photocopier in The Office, which the users can avail off for the making of max.5 free photocopies each and only of the source material available at The Office.
After the closing hour of the library, the participants will take their personal books etc. back. Every temporary donation will be carefully noted down by The Office, so that each contributor will have their materials well taken care of and safely returned after the two hours.
The Office serves herbal tea and homemade cakes.
Opening Hours:
The Office will be open every first Sunday of the month for two hours between 13.00-15.00, starting on the 11th of December 2008.
Address: ADA, Area for Debate and Art.
Room 207.
Houtlaan 21, Rotterdam.
Contact: Deirdre M. Donoghue
The Open Office for Words
Tel: 06-53323708
Deirdre M. Donoghue 
Leave a Reply