America’s Public Libraries Reflect the Systematic Failures and Social Inequality of Our Country

Growing up, the library was not just Amanda Oliver’s favorite place but also her “first beloved destination, first embodied center… it was absolutely sacred.” However, soon after Oliver began her career as a librarian at a Title I school and then in the D.C. public library system, she witnessed how systemic racism, income inequality, the […] The post America’s Public Libraries Reflect the Systematic Failures and Social Inequality of Our Country appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2023-01-05 12:00:00 UTC ]

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How Do You Translate Intergenerational Trauma?

E.J. Koh’s memoir The Magical Language of Others floats stunningly through the abandonment she experienced as a teenager. When she was fifteen, her parents returned home to South Korea for a more lucrative job opportunity, leaving her behind in the United States with her college-going brother. ... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-02-28 12:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Novels About Being Trapped on an Island

Reading a good book can feel like traveling to a remote island. A particular kind of journey where having crossed a stretch of water, and surrounded by sea, you are cut off from the rest of the world. For a writer, an island lends itself to creating atmosphere—claustrophobic, mystical, exposed.... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-02-28 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Tennessee Becomes Second State to Propose ‘Parental Review Boards’ for Public Libraries

The bills propose to give elected parental review boards the power to decide which “age-appropriate" materials can be accessible to minors within a public library, with librarians who don’t comply with the board’s decisions subject to prison time. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S strikes partnership with Library Link

Simon & Schuster (S&S) has struck a new partnership with public libraries in the UK Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-16 17:38:06 UTC ]
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A new Missouri bill proposes jailing librarians who provide children “age-inappropriate” books.

A proposed law in Missouri would fine, and possibly jail, librarians who provide books to children that a parental board deemed inappropriate, a policy so extreme that it has attracted national attention. House Bill 2044, or “the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act,” introduced by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-16 16:35:23 UTC ]
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OverDrive Reports Record Digital Borrowing in 2019

Public Libraries around the world generated a record level of digital content circulation in 2019, providing patrons access to more than 326 million e-books, audiobooks and digital magazines, according to a report by Rakuten OverDrive, a digital distribution vendor for libraries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council England boss suggests library funding boost

Arts Council England (ACE) could make funding public libraries one of its priorities over the next decade, the organisation’s c.e.o. has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-03 11:55:05 UTC ]
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Read More Women Literary Trivia Returns!

Test your knowledge of women writers with a fun pop quiz. First Round Name the title and author of the first-ever science fiction novel. This Pulitzer-prize winner and Italian translator declared in 2015 that she is now only writing in Italian. Name this author. The 2018 Nobel laureate for... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-12-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Indigenous Writers Deserve More Credit for Being Hilarious

Tiffany Midge is the author of several books including the recent memoir Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s, a collection of prose that blends humor with social commentary and meditations on love and loss. Her poetry collection The Woman Who Married a Bear won Kenyon Review’s Earthworks Prize... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-12-19 12:00:00 UTC ]
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How Libraries Are Dealing With Bedbugs

Bedbugs in public libraries are becoming routine. Luckily, there are a few things that librarians can do to stop them...starting with preparation. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-12-17 11:32:47 UTC ]
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Ali Wong’s Memoir Isn’t Just About Asian Americans—It’s Written To and For Us

When I read the reviews of Ali Wong’s memoir Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice For Living Your Best Life, I was at first thrilled—the responses were glowing—and then perplexed. I fundamentally agreed with what they said: that the book is a more intimate and poignant (yet... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-12-16 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Lilly Dancyger Wants You to Embrace Your Bad First Draft

In our series “Can Writing Be Taught?” we partner with Catapult to ask their course instructors all our burning questions about the process of teaching writing. This time we’re talking to Lilly Dancyger, editor at Narratively and author of the forthcoming memoir Negative Space. Lilly’s next... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-12-12 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Electric Lit’s 15 Best Short Story Collections of 2019

Is your attention span ravaged by living in our hellscape of a modern era? Good news: 2019 brought us plenty of brilliant short fiction. We polled current and former Electric Lit staff and contributors about their favorite collections of the year, and their picks include debuts, National Book... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-12-11 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Help an Independent Literary Magazine Thrive in a Hostile Climate

Every day of the year, Electric Literature is grateful for the people who read and share what we publish. But on this Giving Tuesday, we’re coming to you with a special request: Electric Lit is aiming for 1,000 members by 2020, and we want you to be one of them. Your membership gets you... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-12-03 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Why Three Generations of Americans All Have Same Favorite Cookbook

It was a rainy, snuggly night in November 2018, perfect for making mushroom barley soup or stuffed cabbage. I was walking home from the train when I saw it, inexplicably abandoned at the Little Free Library on my block. There, lying on its side as if after a long day of work, was that... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Why All Americans Should Read “Celestial Bodies”

Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi won the Man Booker International Prize this year for its beautifully rendered portrayal of a family’s tangled history in the village of al-Awafi in Oman. The novel was the first book translated from Arabic to win the prize, and more surprisingly, it was the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-26 11:59:00 UTC ]
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You Should Be Getting Your Biographies in Children’s Picture Book Form

November is Picture Book Month, so these illustrated little gems are deservedly in the spotlight. In a recent blog post for Books Are Magic, novelist and bookstore owner Emma Straub curated a list of picture books. Among Straub’s picks for the best picture books of 2019 is a wonderful biography... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-25 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Participation in Summer Reading Challenge up 2.6%

The Reading Agency has reported 722,731 children took part in public libraries’ Summer Reading Challenge this summer, representing a 2.64% increase on last year’s participation. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-22 10:29:12 UTC ]
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A Restless Housewife, a Closeted Vagabond, and Lady Luck

From the title, you might think that On Swift Horses is about cowboys, horse wrangling, rural landscapes—and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Shannon Pufahl’s debut novel explores wide-open spaces and how people navigate them in a post-Depression, post-World War II, Baby Boomer era in Southern... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-21 12:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Standup Comedy Memoirs That Will Make You Laugh And Cry

Writers of literary fiction are supposed to disdain celebrity memoirs. They’re sucking up all the big advances and lowering the bar of what’s supposed to be Literature, right?  But I’ve got a dirty reading secret. I love celebrity memoirs, particularly by standup comedians (and not just because... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-20 12:00:00 UTC ]
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