High-end printers began decorating the edges of books as the craft developed, including dyeing and gilding the edges, but in the 17th century, artisans began creating fore-edge paintings that could only be seen when books were fanned.
From Printed easter eggs: fore-edge paintings hidden in books / Boing Boing
And what better way to do that than by reading? While Welty was referencing the importance of place in fiction, there is little doubt that its importance in nonfiction is similarly essential. The very best writing about a place can bring the reader a whole new understanding of a life different than their own, as well as, per Welty, a better grasp of their own place in the world. Here then, are some of the best pieces of nonfiction from every state in America. (Plus D.C., naturally; and with a special shout-out to New York City, because, obviously.)
“Libraries aren’t there to enforce a curriculum: they exist for the whole community to learn and create on their own terms. That’s what makes this comic maker project special: it’s meant to open the doorway to an understanding of ‘digital literacy’ which is not just about consumption; which is open, flexible, and most importantly, capable of surprising us.
From Australian library releases free, remixable webcomics maker / Boing Boing
Roald Dahl, who was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter and fighter pilot, remembered for his witty, beautifully written children’s books, the author having created some of our most beloved fictional characters.
He often used incredibly unique words to describe the vivid worlds of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Matilda.
More than half of public schools in Boston do not have libraries, leaving thousands of students — the majority of them in distressed neighborhoods — without a safe place to study and access to resources so they can learn more, according to a new district report.
Seventy-three of 126 schools in Boston do not have a library — and even at those that do, most don’t have full-time librarians or enough books, according to the five-year Boston Public Schools library services plan approved by the School Committee this week.
From BPS looking to turn the page on lack of libraries | Boston Herald
ut a visit to the downtown library has become, on many days, a walk through a gantlet of misery: Homeless men and women sleep in the lawn while others plead with visitors for change.
Inside the building, signs warned people to avoid restrooms where some homeless use sinks and even toilet water to bathe themselves and wash their clothes. Some of Santa Ana’s down and out used the study carrels to look for jobs — others shot up drugs, with syringes found discarded in planters and even a box of toilet seat covers.
Security guards carry syringe disposal kits on their tool belts.
From A scene of homeless misery greets patrons trying to use Santa Ana’s award-winning library – LA Times
Using automatic text generation software, computer scientists at Italy’s University of Trieste created a series of fake peer reviews of genuine journal papers and asked academics of different levels of seniority to say whether they agreed with their recommendations to accept for publication or not.
In a quarter of cases, academics said they agreed with the fake review’s conclusions, even though they were entirely made up of computer-generated gobbledegook – or, rather, sentences picked at random from a selection of peer reviews taken from subjects as diverse as brain science, ecology and ornithology.
Librarians tend to agree that their libraries deliver value to community members. But what exactly does that mean? What type of value? Time saving value? Life changing value? Those are quite different. What value do libraries offer? New research identifies 30 types of value of four levels in a Maslow’s like hierarchy. We need to be intentional about designing for value delivery.
From When Libraries Don’t Provide Value – Designing Better Libraries
The whole idea for the hunt was motivated by the desire to have more of the public involved in Banned Books Week, which runs this year from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, says Linnea Hegarty, executive director of the D.C. Public Library Foundation. When books are banned, their supporters disguise them and circulate them surreptitiously, she says, and the idea was to capture that spirit.
From In Banned Books Scavenger Hunt, The Prize Is Literary ‘Smut’ : NPR
With the invention of the e-reader and digital downloads of books, you might not be buying as many books as you used to. But what if you have dozens of vintage books from over the years?
Book readers, you can turn your books into art and home decor! Make sure you don’t have any first editions, of course, and then consider the following hints:
From Hints From Heloise: Old books imitate art? – The Washington Post
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