No Book Left Behind, by Alice-Catherine Carls Essay [email protected] Mon, 10/09/2023 - 15:35 Photo by Alexander Grey / UnsplashWelcome news to those of us in the “Flyover Zone”: our reading habits are healthy and well served. The Jackson Madison County Public Library in Jackson, Tennessee, is one such example. Possessing 115,799 physical items and over one million electronic books, it is one of the larger West Tennessee libraries, and it purports to encourage communicating information, developing technology literacy, and connecting people. It has a total physical circulation of 216,807 and 71,885 patrons (Madison County has a little over 100,000 residents). Digital circulation has gone up since Covid and stands today at 143,709. The library has a northern branch, a Tennessee Room archive, and five “Little Free Libraries” across the city of Jackson. Its 2022 budget was $217,447 for digital and print materials, with $95,159 for print books and $111,115 for digital, $11,137 of which went to cassettes and DVDs that are still popular among patrons with less advanced technology. Dinah Harris, the library director since 2000, states that print books are slow to disappear and remain a vital part of the library. The use of electronic resources has only gone up by 15 percent since Covid and is plateauing at 40 percent. Printed books have a long and happy life in the flyover zone. Libraries, whether located in the flyover zone or not,... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2023-10-09 20:35:50 UTC ]
A worthy cause for you this Thursday: a bookstore owner’s petition to make Harriet Tubman Day a federal holiday (and the first federal holiday named for an American woman) is at nearly 8,000 signatures, and you can add your name here. The petition was created by Jeannine Cook, owner of Harriet’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-05 16:26:12 UTC ]
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The MSNBC counter-terrorism expert and former US navy servicemember discusses his decision to take up arms in UkraineMalcolm Nance, MSNBC’S former military and counter-terrorism expert, is always fighting someone.As a personal and professional acquaintance of Nance, I wasn’t the least bit... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-04-29 10:00:38 UTC ]
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In Texas, where libraries are a political battleground, the Texas Library Association recently convened its annual convention in person for the first time since 2019—in the district of a state representative Matt Kraus eager to ban books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In 1995, I left the Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle to teach English in Vietnam. Around that time, my friend and fellow bookseller Janet Brown traveled to Thailand to teach as well. There was no email then, and overseas phone calls were a luxury. So we wrote to one another, meditating on the... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Last Thursday's Independent Book Publishers Association's “The Battle for Free Expression: Indie Publishers and Libraries in the Fight Against Censorship.” panel offered insights from digital media, public libraries, academic research, and online education on the rise in book banning. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Some sad news coming out of the Boston area today: the Children’s Book Shop in Brookline Village, Mass., will close its doors after 45 years. Dear Customers: We are sad to report that The Children’s Book Shop will close its doors on April 30, 2022. We have provided good books, great service and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-18 16:28:49 UTC ]
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In a move that has alarmed library leaders, Kentucky bill SB 167—which came back from the dead last week with a veto override—will empower local politicians to “appoint whomever they want to library boards and block major library spending.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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On April 30, the Children’s Book Shop in Brookline Village, Mass., will close its doors after 45 years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
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A pandemic might close a library, but it can’t stop librarians. They were still finding new ways to remind us that libraries are about connections and experiences, writes Heidi LM Jacobs. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2022-04-17 08:00:00 UTC ]
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L.A. transplant Stanley Rose's short-lived 1930s bookstore and boozy backroom became a literary haven for Chandler, Fante, Faulkner, West and many more. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-04-14 13:00:44 UTC ]
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A guide to the literary geography of Los Angeles: A comprehensive bookstore map, writers' meetups, place histories, an author survey, essays and more. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-04-14 13:00:40 UTC ]
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The oldest bookstore in SoCal has always known its customers best, from tourists to Caltech professors and the diverse clientele that adores it today. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-04-14 13:00:37 UTC ]
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The New York Public Library made four banned books available nationwide on SimplyE, its free-reader app. The titles include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and Catcher in the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-04-13 23:48:05 UTC ]
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Amy Winehouse was an avowed bookstore browser and book-lover—in a 2007 interview, she told The Guardian that she never traveled without a good book. “I read a lot when I’m travelling and always have a couple of books on the go.” If you’re interested in perusing the late singers collection, you... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-13 19:15:56 UTC ]
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There is something solemn about mornings, when the world is quiet and the shop is calm. The books are illuminated by a dim natural light. When empty, the bookstore is filled with community, with our collective memory—with aspiration both communal and individual—and when full, the bookstore often... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-13 08:52:06 UTC ]
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My first encounter with Valzhyna Mort’s work was Collected Body, her second book of poems released in America, which I picked off a shelf in a bookstore in Upstate New York. As its title suggests, the collection explores the body as a conflicted site of desire and repulsion, mythology and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-13 08:51:54 UTC ]
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Writers for Democratic Action, an organization of some 2,600 authors, is mobilizing its membership in a campaign called Book the Vote. WDA will facilitate nonpartisan voter registration for the 2022 midterm election, working with authors, bookstores, and libraries to educate voters about their... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Nearly three years after it first announced a 90-day embargo to libraries on its newly published audio titles, Blackstone Publishing this week announced that it is changing course. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Because we can never resist adding another line item to the eternal ledger of what we owe libraries: Californians can now use their library cards to get free entry into state parks! The three-year pilot program will give libraries (including mobile libraries) at least three passes to California... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-04-08 15:54:11 UTC ]
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This week's book censorship news includes a look at what the American Library Association is -- and is not -- doing right now. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-04-08 10:41:00 UTC ]
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