Tag: Libraries

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Red States Quit Nation’s Oldest Library Group Amid Culture War Over Books

The American Library Association is facing a partisan firefight unlike anything in its almost 150-year history. The once-uncontroversial organization, which says it is the world’s largest and oldest library association and which provides funding, training and tools to most of the country’s 123,000 libraries, has become entangled in the education culture wars — the raging debates over what and how to teach about race, sex and gender… Read more

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Bullying Librarians Is for Know-Nothings

Right-wing activists have taken over school boards across the country, banning books on topics from slavery to the Holocaust, rejecting courses like AP African American Studies, and prohibiting teachers from discussing gender identity in the classroom. Now, in a comically transparent escalation of this anti-intellectual crusade, they are targeting libraries. Worse, they’ve embraced a characteristically cruel approach to doing so: bullying librarians. Read more

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The Obscure London Library Where Famous Writers Go for Books

Tucked into a corner of St. James’ Square, the exterior doesn’t so much scream library as it murmurs anonymous guest house, a remnant of the building’s former life as a private residence. But like Dr. Who’s famous TARDIS spaceship, the library is seemingly bigger on the inside. One million books on 17 miles of shelves are spread out across a cluster of four different buildings, creating a labyrinthine maze that director Philip Marshall says draws Harry Potter comparisons from nearly every visitor—myself included. Read more

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The Library: A Fragile History

Despite its subtitle, this history of libraries is anything but fragile. At more than 500 pages, it is a robust, near definitive effort, tracing the evolution of the institution from the clay tablets of the Assyrian Empire to the wired libraries of today … Much of this material is familiar, though in a welcome way, comprehensive like the rest of the authors’ admirable effort. Though its primary audience will likely be academics, the book is so accessible and well written that it may also find a general readership among all those who love libraries. May their numbers be legion. Read more

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