February 2015

Students turn food trucks into mobile libraries

Three enterprising Arizona State University students capitalize on the food truck craze by devising a plan to convert old trucks into modern-day bookmobiles for low-income schools and communities lacking basic library resources. They hatched the idea as part of their Changemaking in Education course co-taught by ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and Teach For America.

From Students turn food trucks into mobile libraries | ASU News

Halifax councillor proposes finding a new name for libraries

“It really is a new era for libraries in terms of their significance around economic development, our strategy of supporting immigration and newcomers, supporting small business and entrepreneurs,” said Coun. Jennifer Watts.

Coun. Tim Outhit said the libraries are now so much more than book repositories, it’s possible the term “library” should be retired.

From Check this out: Halifax councillor proposes finding a new name for libraries | Metro

Texas A&M Libraries Receives Five Millionth Volume, A First-Edition Of The Hobbit

Texas A&M University Libraries today acquired its five millionth volume, a rare first-edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 classic The Hobbit—a gift from award-winning sci-fi/fantasy author George R.R. Martin, creator of the best-selling book series “Game of Thrones.”

From Texas A&M Libraries Receives Five Millionth Volume, A First-Edition Of The Hobbit | Texas A&M Today

Time to get ill: Beastie Boys lyrics in the Oxford English Dictionary

The OED quotes the Beastie Boys nine times! That’s a pretty respectable tally for any modern author, let alone a trio of rappers whose renown is largely due to a song called “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)”. As a small tribute to our home-piece MCA, here are a few of my favorite ways the Beastie Boys are representin’ in the dictionary.

From Time to get ill: Beastie Boys lyrics in the Oxford English Dictionary | OxfordWords blog

A Tribute to the Printer Aldus Manutius, and the Roots of the Paperback

Aldus has attracted some pop-culture attention in recent years, at least among those with a geekish taste for printing history. The novel “The Rule of Four” gave his most famous book, the enigmat “Hypnerotomachia Poliphili,” an upmarket “Da Vinci Code” treatment in 2004. There was also Robin Sloan’s 2012 best seller, “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore,” which turned Aldus into the founder of a shadowy secret society headed for an apocalyptic showdown with Google.

From A Tribute to the Printer Aldus Manutius, and the Roots of the Paperback – NYTimes.com