Really different recycled bookshelves

October 6, 2013

We’ve discussed various types of bookcases before, but I think these are truly different. Question: would you use a Jaguar, even a nonfunctional one, to house books? Or where is the perfect spot to house the extra sarcophagus lying around the basement? Shira S.


An Interview with Dr. Michelle M. Wright

October 5, 2013

Dr. Michelle M. Wright is an Associate Professor of African American Studies at Northwestern University and the author of the forthcoming book The Physics of Blackness: Rethinking the African Diaspora in the Postwar Era.  On Tuesday, October 8th, she will discuss her new book and related topics when she visits EPL’s 1st Floor Community Meeting […]


A Show That Lives Up To Its Poe-tential

October 3, 2013

“Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul” is a new exhibit opening Friday at  New York’s  Morgan Library & Museum.  Drawn from holdings of the Morgan, the New York Public Library’s Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, and Susan Jaffe Tane, described as “the world’s foremost private Poe collector,  […]


Can Facebook follow Chicago in bridging the digital divide?

October 3, 2013

Facebook has initiated a project, Internet.org, to help get more people worldwide online. According to this article in ReadWrite, Chicago’s Smart Communities objective has already successfully hooked up 30,000 families in two years and may be able to teach the media giant a thing or two. The increase in computer use was achieved through concentrated […]


Tom Clancy, 1947-2013

October 2, 2013

Best-selling novelist of espionage thrillers Tom Clancy died Tuesday in Baltimore at the age of 66.  A former insurance agent,  he sold his first novel The Hunt for Red October to the Naval Institute Press for only $5,000.  After the book’s publication in 1985, he was propelled to fame and fortune. And when President Ronald […]


No Lie – George Washington Presidential Library Opens

October 1, 2013

The Fred W. Smith National library for the Study of George Washington opened on September 27. The $47 million library in Mount Vernon is dedicated to the study of America’s first president. Ann Bookout, chairman of the board of the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which has maintained George Washington’s home since 1853, said:  “I really […]


An Interview with Margaret Atwood, a master of the dystopic future

October 1, 2013

Yesterday on the CBC’s evening program “Q,” Margaret Atwood, award-winning Canadian author, spoke with program host Jian Ghomeshi about her new book MaddAddam, third in a post-apocalyptic trilogy. The first and second titles in the trilogy are Oryx and Crake (2003) and The Year of the Flood (2009). Their conversation focused on the fact that […]


Banned Books: Sci-Fi and Fantasy

September 26, 2013

Given that science fiction and fantasy books exist to challenge our preconceived notions of reality, it’s no wonder that they are frequently the targets of book-banning efforts.  Many books in these genres revolve around different views of politics, religion,  sex, or sexuality (or all of the above!).  While fans of science fiction and fantasy are […]


2013 MacArthur Genius Awards

September 25, 2013

The 24 MacArthur “genius” grants awarded today are given to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.” Among the winners are authors Karen Russell, whose 2011 novel Swamplandia was a finalist for the Pulitzer Award; Donald Antrim, associate professor at Columbia University and author […]


Vinyl record sales multiplying at Amazon

September 24, 2013

According to Amazon their vinyl record sales are up over 700% in the last 5 years. The company has combined the ability to order albums with the AutoRip feature, which entitles the user to an MP3 version of certain recordings and CD’s. Part of the revival of interest in this older technology is a crowd […]


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