First published by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics in spring 2023, An Incomplete* Listing of NYC Libraries, Reading Rooms, and Archives is a growing map of freely accessible reading spaces throughout New York City coupled with roving libraries and open access digital collections, foregrounding libraries as sites of intervention, liberation, and repair.

History
The first edition of the map was published as part of  the VLC’s New School New Books initiative and our presentation of the C& Center of Unfinished Business at The New School (April 1–May 26, 2023). Co-curated by the VLC for its New York presentation with selections from the VLC Fellows Library, the Center of Unfinished Business is an itinerant decolonial reading room conceived by multimedia platform Contemporary And (C&) that speaks to the persistence and presence of colonialism in contemporary life. “Unfinished” here subtly echoes the “post” in postcolonial—hinting at an incomplete reckoning with colonialism and its evident and insidious aftermaths. The exhibition hosted conversations with local and international libraries as well as a public reading series exploring libraries as critical sites of decolonial and civic discourse. 

The second edition of An Incomplete* Listing of NYC Libraries, Reading Rooms, and Archives was published in conjunction with New School New Books—a reading series organized by the Vera List Center since 2023 that showcases recent publications by university faculty, centers, and institutes across The New School. Curated around thematic clusters—from institutional critique to the intersections between cultural production and labor—the annual event gathers authors for day-long readings and exchanges on a range of topics. Arriving from different fields and programs, they demonstrate the interdisciplinary and public-facing nature of New School scholarship.In 2024 and 2025, NSNB was presented in tandem with both iterations of the Spitting Image Art Book Fair, with focus on artists’ books, zines, chapbooks, and print ephemera, led by students of Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and Parsons School of Design. 

An Incomplete* Listing Elsewhere
The Incomplete* Listing has expanded to include a Los Angeles edition. Published by Inventory Press in collaboration with the VLC in May 2026, this edition features a growing directory of freely accessible reading spaces in LA County. Beyond the collections and knowledge they house, these places provide essential services to LA County’s 10+ million residents. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)—the primary federal funding agency supporting libraries and museums across the country—is under active threat of elimination. A Toronto edition of An Incomplete* Listing is published by the Critical Distance Centre for Curators in collaboration with the VLC in November 2026.

* This by-no-means comprehensive listing is unfinished and awaits updates, additions, and corrections. If you would like to find a copy of the broadsheet or have suggestions for the map, please email vlc@newswchool.edu with the subject line “Incomplete* Listing.”