01 · HOLDINGS
Archiving & Cataloguing
You are responsible for recording, sorting and describing books and documenting their history for the collection.
What we do
The association and its library
Many important records of psychonautic intellectual history still sit in private libraries, in attics, in cellars or in forgotten periodical collections that could easily disappear.
The Bibliotheca Psychonautica wants to preserve this knowledge. To do that we need people like you, willing to contribute their holdings, their skills, their time and their contacts to building a publicly accessible physical and digital library. Every source rescued widens the knowledge available to future generations.
The founding of the Verein Bibliotheca Psychonautica laid the cornerstone for a future foundation whose aim is to bring together and preserve substantial private collections of psychonautic literature, videos, DVDs, CDs, records, pictures, photographs, artworks, correspondence, diaries, research material and manuscripts – in order to build the most comprehensive possible library on drugs and altered states, keeping psychonautic knowledge of altered states of consciousness alive.
Our aim is to secure scattered knowledge, catalogue it and make it accessible to research, education and an interested public.
Collectors of specialist psychonautic literature can bequeath their private estates to the association or the foundation, in order to preserve this valuable material, make it accessible to other interested people and protect it from self-serving, profit-driven and commercial interests – as well as from careless disposal.
Since July 2013, the association has had shelf space on the premises of Nachtschatten Verlag in Solothurn to build the library. From 2028, a further physical location is to be created in Basel in cooperation with the Gaia Media foundation.
Several extensive collections of books and journals have already arrived and are being catalogued step by step. The list of library holdings recorded so far can be requested from the association. Borrowing books is reserved exclusively for members and is governed by the association's board.
Building an archive takes many kinds of collaboration: appraisal, inventory, cataloguing, digitisation, research, translation, editing, public relations and events. We welcome people who would like to contribute their skills voluntarily or on a project basis.
Mission
Preserve scattered knowledge.
Make sources accessible.
Keep writing history together.
I would like to help
Open positions
All work is voluntary. We are looking for people who can take on responsibility occasionally or regularly and who want to help build the library.
02 · DIGITAL
Digitisation
You are responsible for scanning archive material, maintaining files and securing sources for the future.
03 · CONTENT
Research & Editing
You are responsible for opening up sources, researching topics and preparing texts or translations.
04 · OUTREACH
Events & Development
You are responsible for helping to shape events, communication, logistics or the further development of the project.
Voices
What the library means
The history of psychoactive substances and altered states of consciousness still shapes public debate about health, therapy, drug policy, spirituality, self-determination and risk culture. The Bibliotheca Psychonautica preserves sources that help place those debates in historical context and counter simplified, purely present-day narratives. In doing so it lays the ground for a nuanced, informed and responsible public conversation.
Its holdings open up new questions about the history of research, medicine, psychotherapy, culture, politics and social movements – particularly where sources have so far been private, hard to find or never systematically catalogued. As a growing archive, the Bibliotheca Psychonautica supports interdisciplinary research and, in the long run, provides a dependable basis for scholarship, teaching and public education.
Holdings
The library already exists
The path into the library
How it works
Three steps, without haste and without obligation. We also advise relatives who need to sort out an estate.
Private holdings can become shared knowledge.
01
Get in touch
A short email is enough. We discuss size, subjects and timing – in confidence.
02
Review & Collection
We review the collection on site, work out what fits the library and organise transport.
03
Cataloguing & Access
The holdings are recorded and made available to members for research and borrowing.
Partners
The Gaia Media foundation – partner for the planned physical location in Basel from 2028.
Basel
Planned physical location for the collection from 2028, in cooperation with Gaia Media.
Solothurn – has provided the association with shelf space since July 2013.
Lucy’s Rausch – a magazine on psychoactive substances and culture.
Lend a hand
To keep building the Bibliotheca Psychonautica we urgently need active and passive members as well as generous patrons and sponsors!
If you are interested, send an email to info@bibliotheca-psychonautica.org or use the Form for messages and enquiries.