Window display from Liberty's Dept Store, London. Image via Seriously; June is National Bathroom Reading Month. It is the brainchild of the Bathroom Readers’ Institute, publishers of the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series. With over 10 million books in print they are clearly in a room of their own.Here's their pitch:"Since 1988, the Bathroom Readers’ Institute has led the movement to stand up for those who sit down and read in the bathroom. National Bathroom Reading Month celebrates the 66 percent of Americans who proudly admit to this time-honored pastime."What do the other 34% do? Coming soon: Also on the docket...
Russia Wants More Readers
Ot mraka k svetu. Ot bitvy k knige. Ot goria k schast'iu. [Book with slogan: From darkness to light, from battle to boo...] (1917-1921)"Discover new things!""Be guided by knowledge" "Fill in the gaps!"These are just a few of the slogans in the new advertising campaign launched by the government of Moscow to encourage and promote reading. The campaign, which is targeted at young people, also includes 100 billboards placed around the city by the Moscow Writers Union emblazoned with the words "Read Books."Gramota - put' k kommunizmu. [Literacy is the road to communism.] (1920) Alexander Gerasimov, spokesman for the Moscow Writers...
New Reality Show For Book Readers?
With the pleasures of solitary reading under attack by social reading websites and book clubs, Last Gasp Productions is pitching a new reality show, Meet the Readers.Reality shows are only nominally about their subject. They are mini-dramas, each episode with something at stake and intra-group conflict that will be resolved - for the time being - by story’s end.The premise for Meet the Readers is deceptively simple: A disparate group of book lovers is marooned in Malibu, forced to live together in a small, cozy villa overlooking the Pacific, the washer and dryer kaput. The group is a mix of...
Library’s Letters Reveal The Real Van Gogh
Still Life With Plate Of Onions, 1889, Oil on Canvas.Note the letter and the book. This painting is said to refer to Charles Dickens' remedy against suicide: "A daily glass of wine, a piece of bread and cheese, and a pipe with tobacco."London's Royal Academy Museum and Library will host the city's first major exhibit of the works of Vincent van Gogh in over 40 years beginning January 23, 2010. Curated in conjunction with Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum and Library, the show is entitled: The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters. The letters of Van Gogh, borrowed from...
Rachel Maddow and Seth Myers join READ campaign
The American Library Association has announced the latest additions to its Celebrity READ poster campaign.Progressive talk show host Rachel Maddow and Saturday Night Live star Seth Myers are the latest big names to be posterized.The posters, which go for $16 a piece, help fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide while promoting libraries, literacy, lifelong learning, and reading.Maddow and Meyers join a long list of library and reading friendly celebrities and athletes who support the READ campaign. From Yo Ming to Yoda, Bill Gates to Ice Cube, and Tony Hawk to Rachael Ray,the READ poster campaign has...