Charles Johnson essay in the Seattle PI on a cure for our post-literate, "superflat" society.Edward Champion adds another nail to the newspaper book review coffin. He contends that book reviews are "tailor-made for digital delivery". Hard to argue.Project For Public Places article Libraries That Matter. Get ready for the 21st century library as they "extend their mission well beyond the storage of knowledge."Flickr set from popcornyouth of The “The Big Red C” Buzz Spector's book installation at Cornell's Hirshland Gallery.popcornyouth is the arts blog of the Itacha Times where they also have a great interview with Spector
Side By Side. Finally
For the first time, after who knows how many thousands of years, the sacred texts of the world's three monastic faiths, Judiasm, Christianilty and Islam have been gathered together for an exhibition at the British Library.The exhibit Sacred: Discover What We Share: The World's Greatest Collection of Jewish, Christian and Muslim Holy Books brings together the rarest sacred texts in existence.Highlights include:A tattered copy of the Dead Sea Scrolls andA"Qur'an commissioned for a 14th-century Mongol ruler of modern Iran who was born a shaman, baptised a Christian, and converted first to Buddhism, then Sunni and finally Shia Islam."There is a...
Library For Dummies
The publisher of the For Dummies books is holding a contest for the best display in a library.The image above is the entry for the Lansing Public Library in Lansing, Illinois.Winners will be announced in late June.Thanks to the Shifted Librarian for the lead
An Award For the Green Books
The Santa Monica Public Library has broken the ice. In September 2007 they will award the first annual Green Prize for Sustainable Literature.The award will "commend authors, illustrators, and publishers who produce quality books for adults and young people that make significant contributions to, support the ideas of, and broaden public awareness of sustainability”.All books published in the United States during the 2006 calendar year are eligible.The deadline is April 30.Kudos to the City of Santa Monica and their library. The award deserves to be as prestigious and coveted as any existing literary award.To get warmed up for the award...
The Dark Ages Officially Return to Jackson County
"China has libraries. Third-world countries have libraries. Prisons have libraries...Now we don't have libraries." Joe Henry of Medford, Oregon.Welcome to day 1 of:The Jackson County Tragedy: A community without a library.As promised, on April 7th, the Jackson County Library system in Southern Oregon has shut down its entire library system.The "15 branches will remain shuttered indefinitely because of a budget shortfall, the largest such shutdown in the nation's history."What if you still have a book checked out? "The fines will continue to accrue at 20 cents per day per item...If someone gets too many fines, we will turn them over...