Washington Post – Biden administration to test new legal theory: “The federal government has opened an investigation into a Texas school district over its alleged removal of books featuring LGBTQ characters — marking the first test of a new legal argument that failing to represent students in school books can constitute discrimination. The Education Department’s… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Libraries
Unbanning Books: LJ’s 2023 Librarians of the Year
Library Journal: “Brooklyn Public Library’s Nick Higgins, Amy Mikel, Karen Keys, Jackson Gomes, and Leigh Hurwitz have been named LJ’s 2023 Librarians of the Year for their work on Books Unbanned, providing free ebook access to teens and young adults nationwide to help defy rising book challenges across the country. In 2022 Brooklyn Public Library’s Books Unbanned Team began… Continue Reading
Government publications in the news during 2022
GODORT: “Throughout the year government information specialists share document mentioned in the news. One of these individuals is Ben Amata who shares many articles and whose submissions make up the majority of these. This years submission come from Ben Amata, David Durant, Patrice McDermott, Albert Chapman, Vicki Tate, Ronnie Joiner, and Toby Green. Andrew Dudash,… Continue Reading
Librarians Are Meeting Younger Readers Where They Are: TikTok
The New York Times – “The pandemic hurt children’s reading skills. Librarians are doing what it takes to connect them with books — including dance routines. The pandemic wiped out decades of progress in children’s reading skills. So what’s a librarian hoping to engage children and teenagers with books and reading to do? “Meet them… Continue Reading
Some Wonderful Things From 2022
Kottke: “As 2022 recedes into the rearview mirror, I took some time to go back over my media diet posts to pick out some books, movies, TV shows, and experiences from the past year that were especially wonderful. Enjoy.” At the top of my wonderful things for 2022 – beSpacific, LLRX and you – my… Continue Reading
Isaac Asimov on How Libraries Can Radically Change Your Life (1971)
Open Culture: “Back in 1971, Isaac Asimov sent a letter to celebrate the opening of a new library in Troy, Michigan. Thoughtful as always, his letter addressed the children of the Troy community as follows: “Congratulations on the new library, because it isn’t just a library. It is a space ship that will take you… Continue Reading
America’s culture warriors are going after librarians
.coda: “…It’s a tale playing out in cities and states across the country, as a book-banning fever courses through the country’s body politic. Nationally, attempts to remove books from school and public libraries are shattering previous records. The effort is being driven by a loose collection of local and national conservative parents’ groups and politicians… Continue Reading
The best books of 2022 according to BookTok
Mashable: “BookTok is revolutionizing the literature world. For the past two years, books have been climbing the charts not on the backs of movie and TV deals or some miraculous PR stunt, but because users on TikTok deemed it worthy. Kristen McLean, the executive director of business development at NPD Books, told the New York… Continue Reading
Public Domain Day 2023
Center for the Study of the Public Domain, Duke University: “On January 1, 2023, copyrighted works from 1927 will enter the US public domain. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. These include Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse and the final Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, the German… Continue Reading
Book recommendations from Johns Hopkins scholars and experts
We asked faculty members, library staff, and many others about the best books they read in 2022. This is what they told us. “As 2022 nears an end, we reached out to an array of scholars and experts from across Johns Hopkins University, asking about their favorite books from the past year. From gripping novels… Continue Reading
We’re drowning in old books. But getting rid of them is heartbreaking
Washington Post: “…America is saturated with old books, congesting Ikea Billy cases, Jengaing atop floors, Babeling bedside tables. During months of quarantine, book lovers faced all those spines and opportunities for multiple seasons of spring cleaning. They adore these books, irrationally, unconditionally, but know that, ultimately, if they don’t decide which to keep, it will… Continue Reading
Growing network of conservative groups is fueling a surge in book bans
The New York Times: “Traditionally, debates over what books are appropriate for school libraries have taken place between a concerned parent and a librarian or administrator, and resulted in a single title or a few books being re-evaluated, and either removed or returned to shelves. But recently, the issue has been supercharged by a rapidly… Continue Reading
