Librii: A New Kind Of Digital Library For The Developing World

This new library-in-a-shipping-container plans on using growing Internet access in Africa to create a new model for making available both electronic information and physical books. It’s a conundrum that library advocates have struggled with for years: in many areas in the developing world, libraries run on donations, which means they often end up with irrelevant books that never even get removed from their boxes. People still come to libraries in these places for a quiet place to read and study, but certainly not because of the resources they provide. Recently, a crop of initiatives have launched that aim to make libraries more relevant again. Librii, a project from Libraries Across Africa that’s seeking $50,000 in funding from Kickstarter, is one of them. The project, which began as Librii director David Dewane’s thesis idea at the Rice School of Architecture, bills itself as "a digitally enhanced, community-based, revenue-generating library on the frontiers of broadband connectivity." In simple terms, the founders envision low-cost libraries (a single library in Ghana to start) that take advantage of the burgeoning fiber optic infrastructure in Africa to provide Internet access, curated content, educational programs, and of course, physical books.Read Full Story Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2013-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #educational programs

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The Week in Libraries: June 9, 2023

Among the week's headlines: the Fifth Circuit hears a closely-watched book banning case; Louisiana passes a 'harmful to minors' law for library books; legal action over a flawed New York City library design; and California expands its partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Saint Dolly does it again: Imagination Library expands free book efforts in California

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library will expand its program to send children free books across all 58 California counties, Gov. Gavin Newsom announces. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-06-07 15:51:03 UTC ]
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Libraries Need to Prepare for Another Anti-LGBTQ “Hide the Pride” Campaign

Libraries need to prepare for "Hide the Pride," a conservative campaign to remove all LGBTQ children's and YA books from libraries. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-06-06 15:28:23 UTC ]
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Coalition Sues Over New Arkansas Library Obscenity Law

A coalition of 18 plaintiffs—including a powerful alliance of library, publishing, author, and bookseller groups—are suing to strike down a controversial new law that would expose librarians and booksellers to criminal liability for making allegedly inappropriate books accessible to minors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Week in Libraries: June 2, 2023

Among the week's headlines: a library-led coalition has filed a lawsuit challenging a new Arkansas law that exposes librarians and booksellers to criminal prosecution for making allegedly inappropriate books available, while a new 'harmful to minors' rule in Missouri is causing confusion and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-06-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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APA Report: US Sees Double-Digit Audiobook Sales Growth for 11th Year

The Audio Publishers Association finds in its annual report that audiobook sales generated $1.8 billion in the United States in 2022. The post APA Report: US Sees Double-Digit Audiobook Sales Growth for 11th Year appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-06-01 15:27:14 UTC ]
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What Banned Books Can Teach Us: Building an LGBTQ Picture Book Library for Pride 

This year, I’m celebrating Pride through LGBTQ children’s books. I’m building a new library for my two kids and wife Stefanie, who is trans and transitioned just two years ago. We began with Being You: A First Conversation About Gender (Penguin, 2021) and a pride alphabet book, Pride Puppy... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-06-01 08:53:12 UTC ]
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World Literature Today Announces 2023 Student Translation Prize Winners

World Literature Today Announces 2023 Student Translation Prize Winners News and Events [email protected] Tue, 05/30/2023 - 09:42 Katie Kassam and Vala Thorodds, winners of the 2023 Student Translation PrizesWorld Literature Today, the University... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-05-30 14:42:03 UTC ]
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Librarians, Publishers, Bookstores Join Lawsuit Over Arkansas Library ‘Obscenity’ Law

Book business advocacy organizations, including the Association of American Publishers, will join a federal lawsuit over a law recently signed into effect by Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders that exposes librarians in the state to criminal liability for making allegedly “obscene” books... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A More Introspective End of the World: A Reading List of Quiet Apocalypse Books

Apocalypse brings to mind cataclysmic events, often involving Mad Max-esq fighting, cannibalism, and what horrors one must endure, or commit, to survive. I love such stories. I like to imagine that I would survive, thrive even, conveniently forgetting that my life of indoor pursuits, reading,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-05-25 12:26:54 UTC ]
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World Literature Today Announces Finalists for 2024 Neustadt International Prize for Literature

World Literature Today Announces Finalists for 2024 Neustadt International Prize for Literature News and Events [email protected] Wed, 05/24/2023 - 13:17 Top row (left to right): Angie Cruz, Ananda Devi (credit: J.F. Paga (Grasset)), Jenny... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2023-05-24 18:17:59 UTC ]
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Libraries are being accused of offering child porn. Librarians explain why that's not true

In parts of Canada, people are campaigning to make public and school libraries remove books they claim make sexually explicit material available to minors, or even contain child pornography. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-05-24 08:00:00 UTC ]
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There’s More Than One Kind of Loneliness

A profound and deeply funny examination of loneliness in many of its forms—romantic, familial, artistic—Courtney Sender’s book, In Other Lifetimes All I’ve Lost Comes Back to Me, explores feminist millennial rage and the ways the trauma of the Holocaust has been passed-down through Jewish... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-05-23 11:00:00 UTC ]
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PJ Library Expands Outreach to Authors

The non-profit organization that mails millions of books a year to families with connections to Judaism, has relaunched and added online seminars to a program that takes 20 authors and illustrators for eight days in Israel. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Kraft increases investment in its digital media mix with a focus on nostalgia and millennial parents

In addition to preparing television and sponsored ads, Kraft has also taken an interest in digital OOH and social media displays to account for how consumer shopping habits have changed. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2023-05-22 04:01:00 UTC ]
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U.S. Book Show 2023: Libraries Confront Post-Pandemic Challenges

The U.S. Book Show kicked off with lively discussions of the recent wave of book bans across the country, how citizens can successfully fight against those who would restrict our freedom to read, and how libraries and publishers can be strategic partners in enabling access to digital content. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A Bill in Connecticut Would Fund Sanctuary Libraries: Book Censorship News, May 19, 2023

A Connecticut bill would provide funding for sanctuary libraries across the state. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-05-19 10:40:00 UTC ]
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The Week in Libraries: May 19, 2023

Among the week's headlines: a surprise guest inspires the annual PEN America gala; a profile of a grassroots parents group defending the freedom to read in Florida; a brewing controversy over book bans in Colorado; and Minneapolis school administrators seek to ensure every school has a qualified... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-05-19 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Review: ‘Easily Slip Into Another World,’ by Henry Threadgill

Henry Threadgill’s memoir unfolds from his maddening wartime experience to his boundary-pushing musical career. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-05-19 02:17:52 UTC ]
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Why the world's largest publisher found a book-ban lawsuit in Florida 'irresistible'

PEN America and publisher Penguin Random House filed a federal suit against Escambia County School District over its removal of books from school libraries. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-05-18 17:34:04 UTC ]
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