Late author Philip Roth left $2M to an N.J. library, report says

Submitted by Blake on Thu, 11/07/2019 - 09:42
Topic
Public Libraries
In addition to his entire personal book collection, late author Phillip Roth also donated at least $2 million to the library in his New Jersey hometown. The Pulitzer Prize winner, before his death last year, arranged to donate the money to the Newark Public Library, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The money, the report said, a large chunk of his $10 million estate, would be used to bolster the library’s general collection.

Amazon's latest antitrust foe: Libraries

Submitted by Blake on Fri, 10/25/2019 - 13:03
Topic
Amazon.com
Libraries

Driving the news: The American Library Association said libraries are struggling to acquire ebooks because of an "abuse of market power by dominant firms," as part of a report for the House Judiciary Committee's digital markets investigation that was made public Thursday.

https://www.axios.com/amazon-library-ala-antitrust-ebooks-679e8e4d-97bc…

America Needs More Community Spaces - Like Libraries

Submitted by Blake on Tue, 05/21/2019 - 09:40
Topic
Libraries
Americans who live in communities with a rich array of neighborhood amenities are twice as likely to talk daily with their neighbors as those whose neighborhoods have few amenities. More important, given widespread interest in the topic of loneliness in America, people living in amenity-rich communities are much less likely to feel isolated from others, regardless of whether they live in large cities, suburbs, or small towns.

Your internet data is rotting

Submitted by Blake on Fri, 05/17/2019 - 11:29
Topic
Internet
Free storage is a great offer, but sometimes you only get what you pay for. The internet is neither secure nor permanent. It never promised to be, and users should not assume that it will become so. Parts are rotting and corroding and collapsing as I type this. Just hope and plan to not be resting on that platform when it falls.
From Your internet data is rotting

11 Authors on Their One-Word Book Titles

Submitted by Blake on Tue, 05/14/2019 - 21:22
Topic
Libraries
At Merriam-Webster we know that words have the power to shape worlds both real and imagined. And we know that writing is hard work. To distill a story, its characters, and all the associated emotions into a single word is no small feat. That’s why we’ve partnered with eleven of our favorite authors who have shared the story and significance behind their one-word-title books.
From 11 Authors on Their One-Word Book Titles | Merriam-Webster

In Praise of Public Libraries

Submitted by birdie on Tue, 04/02/2019 - 11:11
Topic
Libraries
...from the New York Review of Books, an opinion piece by Sue Halpern..

A public library is predicated on an ethos of sharing and egalitarianism. It is nonjudgmental. It stands in stark opposition to the materialism and individualism that otherwise define our culture. It is defiantly, proudly, communal. Even our little book-lined room, with its mismatched furniture and worn carpet, was, as the sociologist Eric Klinenberg reminds us libraries were once called, a palace for the people.

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