Discover the Future
Living Museum of the Book
Books Matter
The time is now. It is urgent that we preserve and celebrate physical books, as they are rapidly disappearing from our lives. Without real books, we will lose access to original sources, author intent and truth itself.
As in-person access to a deep and wide-ranging selection of physical books becomes more limited, our electronic choices are being determined by algorithms, rather than selecting for ourselves. Following your innate curiosity and selecting your own book is empowering, and sometimes can be life changing.
Fewer adults report reading a book every year. Children in school read fewer and fewer books. There is growing concern by neuroscientists that there may be significant changes in the brains of future generations as a result of reading primarily from screens and less from physical printed pages.
The museum will present two permanent exhibits: The History of Books and The Book and the Brain, as well as timely and diverse rotating exhibits, lectures, workshops and educational programming that will fascinate visitors and encourage them to discover marginalized voices.
We want people to be excited about books. The Living Museum of the Book will keep physical books alive, relevant and accessible, while providing an engaging "third space" to encourage community and learning.
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"Our society, more than ever, needs initiatives that bring people together around real, multisensory experiences that engage the whole body, allowing us to share, enjoy, and remember them. The Living Museum of the Book has the potential to become exactly that: a place where the material presence of books, the spaces that hold them, and the people who gather around them create opportunities for reflection, learning, and connection."
Andrea de Paiva, a leading voice at the intersection of neuroscience, design, and architecture and Advisor to The Living Museum of the Book
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Our Evolution
We have been busy laying the groundwork for the museum. We are proud to share our progress.
For over two decades, founder Tony Jacobs has been operating one of Los Angeles' biggest used bookstores, SideShow Books, creating a diverse community of people, books, and conversations.
While charting the ongoing decline of brick & mortar bookstores and noting the excitement and serendipity experienced by his hundreds of thousands of customers, a visionary idea was born—the need for a great cultural institution to serve as a temple to the book, to preserve and to promote the importance of books in our lives and in history. That vision is now becoming reality.
• We have formed a core group of experienced advisors to strategize our launch. A world-renowned museum architect is consulting on the concrete needs and structure, and a specialist in neuroarchitecture is advising on creating exciting spaces conducive to reading and community.
• Museum managers, exhibit designers, a nonprofit administrator and a senior development executive are volunteering their valuable guidance.
• The Living Museum of the Book project has been embraced by both a leading neuroscientist (whose specializes in reading and the brain) and an internationally known literacy program expert.
• We are actively envisioning future educational programming, exhibits and lecture series.
The Museum now stands ready to move to the next level, to hire foundational staff and find a site to contain the vision! Please join us.