Tag: Libraries

A ‘Radical’ Library for the Hip-Hop Set in the South Bronx

“If we make it cool to read books in the South Bronx...then it’s a victory” -Rodrigo Venegas, aka Rodstarz, one-third of the rap crew, Rebel Diaz, and founding member of the cultural collectiveWelcome to The Richie Perez Radical Library, a new library created by the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective. The library, which was named for a South Bronx educator and activist who died in 2004, features "works by influential thinker-agitators, such as Angela Davis and Malcolm X, with writings by hip-hop luminaries including KRS-One, the RZA and Jay-Z." The collective partnered with Bluestockings, an independent Lower East Side bookstore, to gather...

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The Robo-Librarian

                       Trust the machine - Samantha WeberSeattle's Evening Magazine visited the King County Public Library distribution center to profile the "Tin Man," the largest book-sorting machine in the country and the humans that feed it.The monster is half the size of a football field and processes between 38-45,000 books a day.Its job is to Sort-Scan-Plop, Sort-Scan-Plop all day long.Interesting tidbit - aside from the King County Library system having the largest book-sorting operation for physical books they also lend more ebooks than any other library system in the country!And as an...

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Urban Planning through Kids Books

Kauser Razvi, an urban planner and part of the team at Strategic Urban Solutions, would like to transform a few vacant lots in Cleveland into mini-wonderlands for kids.The project is called Literary Lots and thankfully it has already met its initial funding goal.Here's what Ravi has in mind:Literary Lots is a program that ‘brings books to life’ in vacant lots in Cleveland. Working with the Cleveland Public Libraries and LAND Studio, Literary Lots will transform 2 to 4 vacant lots adjacent to libraries into six-week summer program spots for children in inner-city Cleveland. Between June and August 2013, local artists...

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