Selections from the Joyce and Jerry Hirsch pop-up book donation featuring paper engineered constructed spaces. On view at the Fleet Library at RISD, 2nd Floor, November - December 2025.

Jerry Hirsch, on his commute home from New York City, started bringing pop-up books to his children in the 1970s. The collection grew as he began to buy more books drawing the attention of people who gave additions. Eventually Jerry and Joyce, his wife, filled a room of their house with over 1,000 books. Friends, family, and local school groups enjoyed turning the pages of these books for many years. In 2020 when Jerry and Joyce started to downsize their home they wanted to find a place where people would appreciate and learn from the collection. The collection found its home in 2021 at the Fleet Library at RISD. The first copies of the books are housed in Special Collections and the second copies of books are located on the first floor of the library and can be checked out by RISD faculty, students, and staff.