This semester has truly flown by. When this semester started, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this class. I knew it was about Books!!!, and I knew we’d be going to special collections, which I was excited about. But other than that, I saw the words “one time offering” and knew I had to enroll. And I’m glad I did. I have never taken such a theory class before. That isn’t to say we didn’t read books, as we did, but every Thursday class meeting had such a large discussion and I had never had a class like that. Not only did this class make me think, it taught me to think differently. And as I looked at different pieces in collections, the question that kept circling my head was, why? Everything had a reason, and so many things had reasons that I had never considered. So when I say “learn how to think,” I really mean I learned to question everything. And that everything is connected. I was able to gain a deeper understanding on many topics that I didn’t realize I only knew the surface level of.

Although I loved learning about books, I also found archiving to be an interesting topic. Way back on the first day of class, Professor Pressman had asked why we enrolled in the class. I had answered that I was interested in which books survive the passage of time and how books that are considered to be classics are chosen. Through the readings, lectures, and special collections visits, I’ve learned a lot about what gets saved and archived. And that as people, archivists have biases and prejudices that affect how and what is being saved. I’ve heard that publishers are gatekeepers, and I think that archivists are as well. I don’t say that to demonize them, and there are many, probably too many, books, and they can’t all fit in one archive. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t hope and work for more equality in archiving. I had even taken the time to visit the Rare Books room at San Diego Central Library as I had enjoyed my time so much, and was surprised to learn that many of the books in the collection were donated by one person, a person that made a choice to keep and share certain books.

As I leave this class, I will take with me my newfound primary research skills and use them in both my classes and life. Because everything has a “why”, I just need to figure it out.