Essay Photo by Miko Guziuk / Unsplash In his newest book, What Is American Literature? (Oxford University Press, 2022), award-winning cultural commentator, translator, and editor Ilan Stavans, the publisher of Restless Books and the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College, rereads an assortment of American literary classics through the prism of the Trump years, from the poems of Phillis Wheatley to Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. In the primer, written during the presidential election won by Joe Biden—and before the January 6, 2021, sedition instigated by Donald Trump—he also reflects on the role public libraries play in disseminating the nation’s literature, the art of teaching it to new generations of students, and the future of the book as an artifact disseminating knowledge in our graphic-driven age. The volume closes with an epistolary account, in Stavans’s words, of “the Second American Civil War.” What follows is the section on teaching. American literature starts and ends in the classroom. It starts there because whoever is a writer-to-be is likely to discover the magic of literature as an assignment, or else in response to the tedium that comes from feeling disengaged with the educational purpose. And it ends in the classroom because, at a time of precipitous declines in reading habits, books have their largest audiences among students enrolled in... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-02 19:59:22 UTC ]
As states begin lifting stay-at-home restrictions, public libraries face a wide range of short- and long-term issues. How do we keep library workers safe, and employed? How will buildings be redesigned to support physical distancing? Amid the economic damage wrought by the pandemic, how will... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, another critical transformation looms for public libraries. And the American public is counting on librarians to get it right. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The beginnings of Poems on the UndergroundPoems on the Underground started life in 1986 as an experiment by three friends, me (the writer Judith Chernaik) and the poets Cicely Herbert and Gerard Benson, all of us keen poetry lovers. We persuaded London Underground to post a few poems on its... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-05-04 14:39:46 UTC ]
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The value of public libraries is rarely questioned in times of crisis—think of the New Orleans Public Library after Hurricane Katrina, or the Ferguson Municipal Public Library during the unrest there. But this crisis is different. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Though many public libraries in the U.S. are completely shut, employees at some are concerned that they have been asked to continue showing up for work. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-04-14 23:04:05 UTC ]
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Book Reviews Dianne Johnson-Feelings Mildred D. Taylor at the University of Oklahoma, October 24, 2003 / Photo by Robert Taylor Generations of American schoolchildren have grown up with Cassie Logan and her brothers, Stacey, Christopher-John, and... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-04-09 13:31:33 UTC ]
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Both Google and Facebook have acted surprisingly quickly to remove disinformation related to the COVID-19 virus over the past few weeks, considering their somewhat mixed track record when it comes to removing hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and trolls related to political campaigns. But experts... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-04-09 11:45:11 UTC ]
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In The Freckle Report 2020, Tim Coates offers a sobering, data-driven view of the state of public libraries in the U.S. and the U.K. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With public libraries closed, the Internet Archive announced an initiative to offer 1.4 million books for free online—reopening a heated copyright debate. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2020-03-30 17:57:54 UTC ]
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Shuttering public libraries puts a strain on communities—even if it’s the only way to keep people safe. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2020-03-23 20:35:01 UTC ]
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More and more public libraries are temporarily closing shop across the country to limit the spread of coronavirus, but their Wi-Fi can still be a valuable resource for communities, the American Library Association said Monday. Libraries that close should leave their Wi-Fi open to the public... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-23 18:01:46 UTC ]
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Why are Chicago Public Library branches still open to the public during this global health crisis? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-19 12:06:40 UTC ]
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This morning, both the Chief Librarian of the Brooklyn Public Library and the President of the New York Public Library released statements announcing that they would be cancelling public library programs for the rest of March, in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 and encourage social... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-12 16:51:47 UTC ]
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Minnesota House Republicans threaten to slash funding to public libraries hosting Drag Queen Story Time. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-03-12 10:43:18 UTC ]
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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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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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Cultural Cross Sections Alice-Catherine Carls Pachamama / Pichincha / Photo by Scipio Rocío Durán-Barba / Photo by Stephen Carls Rocío Durán-Barba is one of the most important voices of Latin American literature today. The author of more than fifty... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2020-02-13 15:00:14 UTC ]
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Jerry Craft’s story exploring ‘friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh manner’ is the first graphic novel to win the long-running American children’s awardFor the first time, a graphic novel has won the Newbery Medal, the oldest and most prestigious children’s book award in the US. The... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-01-28 16:03:46 UTC ]
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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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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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