Scott Perich (Linda Hall Library)
Scott Perich aims to connect visitors to stories of library’s people, objects, places and ideas
Anyone who has enjoyed the singular exhibitions at the Linda Hall Library over the years will be delighted to learn there will be more of them with the recent appointment of Scott Perich as the library’s first vice president of exhibitions and project management.
Perich comes to Linda Hall with 30 years of experience in exhibition planning and design, most notably as exhibit and principal designer at Quatrefoil Associates in Columbia, Maryland, and director of long-range planning and strategic design for the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland.
In June 2023, when Eric Dorfman was appointed Linda Hall Library’s new president, he welcomed the “honor of ensuring Linda Hall flourishes, expanding the horizons of the unique institution.” (That’s no small challenge for the largest and already accomplished, independently funded public library of science, engineering and technology in North America.)
Dorfman is pursuing those new horizons by preparing a new strategic plan, which he will soon present to the board of trustees. In the meantime, he has hired Perich, who, he says, will play “a pivotal role” as “we turn the page to the next chapter in the Library.”
Perich, who studied theater and set design at the University of California, Riverside and Carnegie Mellon, brings a unique, complementary — dare we say artistic — dimension to the library’s scientific and engineering focus. In a recent interview, Perich said he was excited to collaborate with his peers within the library and the community, including those in the creative and performing arts.
Perich plans to leverage these fields “to develop creative, relevant, and engaging exhibitions that connect visitors to the stories of people, objects, places, and ideas found at the Linda Hall Library.” His approach is perhaps best exemplified by the title of one of his most recent articles: “Effective Exhibitions Should Make Lasting Connections Through the Emotional Mapping of Storytelling” (2022). He has already given us a taste of what that might mean.
Perich served as the project lead for the current Linda Hall rare books exhibition of some of the world’s most influential and rare scientific texts, including three versions of Galileo’s “Sidereus Nuncius” (“Starry Messenger”) — his most famous work. The library acquired its first copy of “Sidereus,” from the Frankfurt edition, in 1976, and a second, the 1610 Venice edition, which features corrections in Galileo’s handwriting, in 1988. The 2023 acquisition of an ordinary paper “Sidereus” makes Linda Hall Library the only place in the world with all three original versions of the publication in the same location.
The 2023 “Sidereus” acquisition is bound with Johannes Kepler’s “Narratio de Observatis” (“Narration of Observations”) and “Dioptrice” (“Refraction”). Also on view in the exhibition are 17 other acquisitions printed as early as 1477. As Jason Dean, curatorial team lead and vice president for Special Collections, reminds us: “Galileo and Kepler are two of the most influential astronomers in history and are responsible for advancing how we understand our solar system and universe.”
The next major exhibition, “Life Beyond Earth,” exploring a related theme, is scheduled to open in late October.
The rare books exhibition featuring historic works of Galileo, Johannes Kepler and others continues at Linda Hall Library, 5109 Cherry St., through Oct. 4. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Free. For more information, 816.363.4600 or www.lindahall.org.
