The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has released the first batch of documents relating to the raid on the compound where they found Osama Bin Ladin. Among the documents is an accounting of the English language books found on Bin Ladin's bookshelf. Here, in its entirety, are the 39 English language books Bin Ladin kept around the house: The 2030 Spike by Colin Mason A Brief Guide to Understanding Islam by I. A. Ibrahim America’s Strategic Blunders by Willard Matthias America’s “War on Terrorism” by Michel Chossudovsky Al-Qaeda’s Online Media Strategies: From Abu Reuter to Irhabi 007 by...
A Library for the Birds
Earlier this month a library for the birds opened in Charlottesville, Virginia. The brainchild of Rebecca Flowers and Kevin Cwalina, The Belmont Public Library for the Birds opened May 2nd with a grand opening “complete with registering birds for library cards." Their slogan is ‘Belmont Public Library for the birds: feeding the bird brains of Virginia,'” and from the looks of it it has been a busy place. No word yet on winter hours. Here's a short clip of the library in action: [youtube]http://youtu.be/-KFpaPDseJU[/youtube] Belmont Public Library for the Birds Facebook page h/t Book Riot
Latest study confirms that school libraries positively impact student test scores
Well what do you know - another study, this this time from the South Carolina Association of School Librarians, confirms once again that schools with vibrant libraries and librarians make a difference. A big difference. Test scores and reading levels are higher and the chance of long-term academic success is greatly improved when a school boasts a healthy library. The evidence continues to mount yet schools all over this land are still struggling to even have a library. It wasn't too long ago when we featured the tragic plight of the Philadelphia public schools where more than 80% of the schools lack a functioning library! We have...
The House of Twenty Thousand Books
There is no end to the praise of books, to the value of the library. Who shall estimate their influence on our population where all the millions read and write ? ~Ralph Waldo Emerson in “Address at the Opening of Concord Free Public Library” I was having dinner last week with a neighbor who, with his team, recently had a meeting with Bill Gates to discuss their project within the Gates Foundation. One of the words he used to describe Gates was "polymath." He spoke of Gates as having an incredibly deep knowledge in a wide variety of subject matter and...
The Pocket Poets Series turns 60
2015 marks the 60th anniversary of City Lights Publishers and the beginning of the seminal Pocket Poets Series. It began with a 500 copy letterpress printed edition of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Pictures of a Gone World, his first book, in 1955. In 2011 they published the 60th title in the series, David Meltzer‘s When I Was a Poet. But it was the 4th book in series that single-handedly changed the course of American poetry and put City Lights on the map for good. That was Allen Ginsberg's masterwork, Howl and Other Poems. About the series: Inspired by the French poetry series, Poètes d'aujourd'hui, Lawrence...