The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has released its latest report on the reading habits of our fellow Americans. The report titled "Reading on the Rise : A New Chapter in American Literacy" shows that "for the first time in over a quarter-century...literary reading has risen among adult Americans. After decades of declining trends, there has been a decisive and unambiguous increase "among virtually every group measured in this comprehensive nationalsurvey."Wow! At last some positive news for the book world. While no one can put a finger on exactly what has caused this reversal outgoing NEA chairman Dana Goia...
Book Bank
Savings Book. Designed by Jörg Gätjens, 2003. 8.5h x 5.75w x 2"d. Maple with with a cloth bindingIf your looking for a place to "cleverly conceal your savings or anything important,"of course this is assuming one has anything left to save these days, then the Savings Book is for you. It has a slot for coins and one for bills and slides open for easy access to your cash.The Savings Book is available exclusively at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) store. Originally priced at $90 the book bank is now on sale for $39.95You know things are bad when...
Beirut : World Book Capital City for 2009
Since 2001 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has picked one city each year as the World Book Capital City.UNESCO works with three major branches of the global book industry, the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Booksellers Federation (IBF) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), to determine the winners.This year the winner is Beirut, Lebanon.UNESCO has already chosen the World Book Capital for 2010. The winner is Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.Here is an excerpt from a letter from Zoran Jankovic, the mayor of Ljubljana, that accompanied the city's winning submission:In pursuing...
Skype Storytime
Photograph by Cheryl Gerber for The New York TimesThis intriguing image accompanied Jennifer Conlin's piece, "Living Apart for the Paycheck," in last Sunday's New York Times. Though the article focuses on how the sour economy is literally splitting families up so they can make ends meet it introduces some potential book-related applications for the Skype technology which allows users transmit their voice and image over the Internet.The image shows Gautam Ghosh, an assistant professor at the University of Pennyslvania, reading to his kids who, along his wife, are living in New Zealand. That's a 9,000 mile gap and a 16...
Nuns Reading
Group of nuns sailing aboard the SS Manhattan in 1940. Photograph by Thomas D. McavoyThe 5th installment in Book Patrol's new series Life of Google, featuring images from the vast archives of Life magazine that now appear on Google.Nun using card catalogue in the New York Public Library, 1944. Photograph by Alfred EisenstaedtNuns waiting in line in polling station in Milan, Italy. 1948. Photograph by Yale JoelA nun reading the diary of Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. Emmitsburg, MD. 1959. Photograph by Hank WalkerNuns reading about Pope Pius XII's death in Rome. 1958. Photograph by Mark Kauffman