Iraqi security forces have overtaken the state library. 20 Iraqi troops "seized the building at gunpoint yesterday, threatening staff and guards.""The reckless actions of the Iraqi forces and the US military, who appear to condone the operation, will put the staff and library and archival collections in real danger," said Saad Eskander who has run the library since 2003."They have turned our national archive into a military target...tomorrow or the day after, the extremists will attack the Iraqi forces there." says Eskander.The forces are occupying the building "to defend Shia worshippers heading to the shrine of Khadimiya, about 15 miles...
Textbook Trauma
It is arguably the biggest sin of the deeply flawed world of publishing. Year in and year out students are charged exorbitant prices for the textbooks that they have to have. With the average shelf life of a textbook being 2 years the publishers have a built in dependency that borders on criminal. The schools and universities are not, like the students, innocent victims. They are complicit in this madness.If the open access movement or the digitization crowd ever needed something to rally around the textbook trade would be the place to start.The advent of buying used books online has...
The Book That Didn’t Get Built
It would have been something to behold. In 2004 Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn was invited to create a piece for the Walker Art Center 'Walker Without Walls' series.His idea: To build a 50 foot replica of the book A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia by the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.Inside the giant book there would be a library of philosophy books, room for all the things necessary to print a daily newspaper, and a meeting and exhibition space. Outside there would be a cafe.The installation was tentatively titled The Road-Side Giant Book Project and was scheduled to...
Bibliomulas: The Book Mules of Venezula
They pack up the mules and head to the remote areas of the country bringing books to the kids and adults. James Ingram of the BBC accompanies one such trek and recounts his experience in his piece Venezula's four-legged mobile libraries.They project was started by the University of Momboy, a small school that "prides itself on its community-based initiatives.""Spreading the joy of reading is our main aim" says Christina Vieras one of the project's leaders "But it's more than that. We're helping educate people about other important things like the environment. All the children are planting trees. Anything to improve...
Roethke Lives
The premier of David Wagoner's one-act play First Class opened last night at Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre (ACT).For Wagoner the play is a "remembrance of his friend and mentor, the legendary poet Theodore Roethke. In this world premiere, you’re a student in Roethke’s classroom. Why does art matter? When does genius become madness? And what does it mean to live a passionate life? Please discuss."Seattle actor John Aylward plays the lead and does so so convincingly that Wagoner says "he's absolutely channeling Roethke in many instances."Roethke is a legend around these parts. His time here in Seattle raised the literary...