Boven Magazine Library

Print isn’t dead in Taipei. It’s being kept alive at Boven, a magazine library tucked away in an unassuming Dongchu alleyway. The passionate people behind Boven are Spencer Chou, Ken Peng, and Shawn Hsu. These three are working tirelessly to preserve print. Spencer and Ken met each other while serving in the Taiwanese military, and bonded over their shared interests in printed publications, literature, and design. Together, they founded Boven. Later on, Ken’s high school friend Shawn joined the team and has been invaluable with his expertise in marketing, publishing, and exhibition production. This trio is pushing Boven forward towards becoming more than being a simple magazine library. They aspire for Boven to evolve into a platform where their magazines can be shared and easily accessible by everybody.

在台北，印刷尚未絕跡。 Boven雜誌圖書館藏身於台北東區一個不起眼的小巷子裡，在這裡，印刷仍保持著活力。雜誌背後的愛好者是周延川、彭緯豪與徐元祥，他們三個不辭辛勞，只為讓印刷出版物能一直存續下去。周延川與彭緯豪在台灣服兵役期間結識，發現彼此在印刷出版、文學與設計方面志趣相投。接下來，他們便一起建立了Boven雜誌。之後，彭緯豪的高中同學徐元祥也加入進來，因其在市場營銷、出版以及展覽製作方面的專業成為團隊不可或缺的一員。這個三人組共同推動Boven的發展，使它遠不僅僅是一個簡單的雜誌圖書館。他們希望Boven最終能成為一個平台，令每個人都能在這裡輕易地分享與閱讀雜誌。

The name Boven comes from the Dutch word that means “upstairs”. This name originated from their first location ten years ago in a four-story building in Shilin. This building brought several different businesses together, such as a café, bar, clothing store, and magazine shop. Seeing how successfully these different elements complemented one another led to Boven becoming the magazine library and café that it is today. The concept of “upstairs” is also meant to be a metaphor that represents their persistent step-by-step climb towards achieving their goals.

Boven這個名字源於意為“樓上”的荷蘭語詞彙。取這個名字是因為十年前，他們原本第一個地址是在士林區的一個四層小樓裡。這座小樓聚集了各種各樣的商家，如咖啡廳、酒吧、服裝店與頂樓的雜誌商店。正是因為看到了這些不同元素的商店如何成功地互為補充，Boven才成長為今日這個集雜誌圖書館與咖啡廳與一身的商店。 “樓上”的概念同時隱喻了他們一步一步向上，最終實現目標的內涵。

Boven was finally revived in January of 2015. This new space is a subterranean layer that provides safe haven from the rapid digitalization of the world outside. Currently boasting an impressive collection of over 16,000 magazines from all over the world that cover an entire spectrum of subjects, such as art, fashion, design, architecture, and lifestyle just to name a few. The intended coziness and homeliness of the store is further reinforced through their visitor guidelines, which requires everyone to remove their shoes and change into a pair of slippers. The space is separated into two areas by a black divider. One space is furnished with rows of long tables and lit by white fluorescent light, which fittingly to their title, resembles an actual library. On the other hand, the main area consists of comfortable couches, and the lay out makes it almost feel like a living room. The overall ambience is inviting and beckons visitors to stay a while, read a magazine or two, and relax for an afternoon.

2015年1月，Boven終於重新開張。新地址選在地下層，成為人們逃離外面數碼世界的安全的避風港。如今，這裡收集了全世界超過16,000本雜誌，涵蓋各個領域，如藝術、時尚、設計、建築與生活方式等等，十分驚人。新店的遊客守則要求每個人必須換上拖鞋，這令人感覺更加舒適，更有家庭氣氛。整個空間由一個黑色間隔分為兩個區域。一個區域配有長台與白色日光燈，像一間真正的圖書館一樣，正符合它的名字。主區域配有舒適的長沙發，佈置得像客廳一樣。整體的氣氛十分吸引人，好像在呼喚遊客在這停留一會，讀一、兩本雜誌，下午放鬆一下。

Every month, at least three hundred new magazines are added to their collection. Spencer is in charge of curating the entire magazine collection, and he adoringly views each and every single one of these magazines as priceless treasures. Having read every magazine in the library, he’s even been dubbed as a “human search engine” who’s capable of locating any magazine in the library. Spencer sees print as an important instrument that has recorded the history and culture of countless cities and countries over the course of time, and this mindset is why he believes it’s more important than ever to preserve the disappearing medium.

每個月他們都至少收集到300份新的雜誌。負責雜誌收藏與整理的是周延川，他將每一份雜誌都視為無價的珍寶。他讀過館內所有雜誌，號稱“人肉搜索引擎”，可以精准定位每一份雜誌放在哪個地方。周延川認為，在時間的長河中，印刷是記錄無數城邦歷史與文化的重要方式，正是有了這個想法，他才認為保存這個正在消失的媒介比以往任何時候都更加重要。

Boven has plans of expanding the scope of their project. They’re attempting to make print publications even more accessible to people all over Taipei, and to do so, they’re working to construct over a hundred micro libraries within the city. Their plan involves selecting and leasing publications to various businesses looking to provide reading material for customers; this would in return reduce time, cost, and inventory build up for the business owners. Their ambitious vision is for Boven to be found in every part of Taiwan and allow the country itself to be known as the world’s biggest magazine library.

Boven有計劃擴大項目的範圍。他們正試著在全台北範圍內，令印刷出版物更容易被大眾接觸。為此，他們正在全市建立超過100個微型圖書館。他們的計劃是，挑選出一些雜誌，租賃給各種希望為客戶提供閱讀材料的商戶；作為回饋，這個項目也可以為商戶節省時間與成本，降低庫存。他們對Boven寄予厚望，希望它遍及台灣，最終，讓這個城市本身作為世界最大的雜誌圖書館揚名四海。