May 22, 2011
Author Erik Larson will be appearing at three locations in the Chicago area tomorrow and Tuesday. His latest work is “In the Garden of Beasts,” about an American family taking a year abroad during the Nazi era (see review of book). I recommend checking the first link for other upcoming author visits. Keep an eye […]
May 19, 2011
The Library of Congress together with Sony has assembled the largest collection of historical recordings of speeches, music, poetry, and spoken word materials in the world. It covers the first 25 years of the 20th century and includes several thousand items (for listening only). As heard on NPR. Shira S.
May 19, 2011
The drive to access media more conveniently has culminated recently in the appearance of the free Amazon Cloud system, among others, designed for a one-stop music experience. This article on ZDNET discusses the various legal issues arising between the music industry and technology companies, as well as linking to other discussions about clouds. Google launched […]
May 18, 2011
University of Chicago’ s new $81 million dollar library opened Monday May 17. Designed by Helmut Jahn it has 180 seats for students and faculty and “room for 3.5 million volumes in the underground area, which is not accessible to anyone but select library staff. Fifty feet below ground on the Hyde Park campus, a system […]
May 17, 2011
I hope you like this article from salon.com as much as I do. The author is focusing on New York, however, the sense of place that libraries provide is the same anywhere. (This is a picture of Jack Kerouac’s personal items.) Shira S.
May 15, 2011
To celebrate the paperback release of her 2010 bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot will discuss and sign the book, 6pm at the Harold Washington Library Center this Thursday. Henrietta Lacks was the terminal cancer patient whose cells, preserved without her knowledge or consent, have formed the basis for much of the […]
May 14, 2011
People of a certain age will remember when Up the Down Staircase, a novel about teaching in a large public high school came out in 1965. It became a bestseller and was subsequently made into a very popular movie. Bel Kaufman, the author of this classic, has just turned 100 and is still as feisty and good-humored […]
May 13, 2011
In honor of the NY Public Library‘s 100th anniversary, on May 19 it will distribute 25,000 paperbacks to public places with directions to keep the books accessible to the public, ie., on park benches. The book offers selections by well-known people highlighting the significance of their favorite books and the joy of discovery. In this […]
May 12, 2011
If you missed her fascinating May 7th presentation at Haikufest, rest easy because we are thrilled to introduce local poet and painter Lidia Rozmus as the next artist in our ongoing exhibition series Local Art @ EPL. From now through the end of May, her elegant collection Between a Word and a Brush Stroke will be […]
May 11, 2011
The Gary, IN, library board has taken the drastic, but necessary step of shutting the main branch library. There are 4 other neighborhood locations. The decision was made because the city population has dwindled and much less tax income is expected this year. Detroit is facing a similar situation. As heard on Changing Gears this […]
