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Campus - 08.09.2014 - 00:00 

HSG beats book domino record

Hundreds of green-white books formed an HSG logo below the glass pyramid of the HSG Library Building on the Museum Night. In just under four minutes, the 5,337 selected books fell over like dominoes. The domino artists Daniel Huwiler and Jonas Oswald are delighted with the new world record.<br/>

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8 September 2014. On the occasion of the 10th Museum Night and the 25th anniversary of the Library Building, the University of St.Gallen (HSG) ventured on a unique project. More than 5,300 specially selected books were set up as a domino and pushed over by the Amriswil domino artist Daniel Huwiler in the presence of over 250 excited spectators on the St.Gallen Museum Night.

Daniel Huwiler and Jonas Oswald began to set up the first rows of dominoes as early as Friday. The support provided by ten helpers on Saturday sped up the progress of the project. On Saturday evening, 20 children between five and 14 years of age took the opportunity to build part of the domino themselves.

Book domino in the Library

After some brief instructions and some trials, the children placed one book next to another with great skill and motivation. A short moment of shock had struck on Thursday evening when Guinness informed the HSG that the official record would now be 4,988 books. But the domino constructors were not discouraged. With the help of the HSG’s library staff, they selected further books, got additional helpers on board and finally arranged more than 5,300 books in a domino.

The first book was pushed over at 7.02 p.m., the rest followed in a chain reaction. The book domino also survived the hurdle across the stairs without any problems. Finally, a hundred green-white books formed the HSG logo after they had fallen over beneath the glass pyramid of the Library Building. All in all, 5,337 books fell over in just under four minutes. Whether this will entitle the HSG to an entry in the Guinness Book of Records will be announced by Guinness in a few weeks’ time.

25 years of the Library Building
The University Library is very pleased about the event and the number of visitors. With the book domino and the 25th anniversary, the library staff drew attention to the fact that the University Library is not only a place for students: the general public, too, enjoy free access to the books and the knowledge they contain.

Guided art and architecture tours

Besides the domino, guided tours of art and architecture attracted visitors to the University. These tours provided numerous visitors with an impressive insight into the art world. The works of art by Giacometti, Miró, Braque and Arp are also freely accessible to the general public on the campus of the HSG at any other time.

Picture: Universität St.Gallen - Universitätsbibliothek / Clemens Gächter

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