August 13, 2013
Prolific author Barbara Mertz, better known as mystery authors Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels, died last week at the age of 85. Born in Astoria, Illinois in 1927, she received a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Chicago at the age of 23. Ms. Mertz wrote two nonfiction books under her own name, including […]
August 13, 2013
On Monday’s NPR Morning Edition continuing series on the public library in the U.S. today, Joel Rose reported on the crucial role a local public library takes during and after a disaster. From the simple (allowing people to clean up in the restrooms, charging cell phones, canceling fines for overdues and lost books) to the […]
August 9, 2013
NPR’s All Things Considered continues its series on public libraries in this story by Bob Mondello highlighting the library “on stage, on screen, and in song.” He refers to stereotypes such as Marian in The Music Man, George Bailey’s wife Mary in It’s A Wonderful Life, and Katharine Hepburn in Desk Set as well as […]
August 7, 2013
Looking for that special painting for your living room wall? – try Amazon’s new fine art site Amazon Art. Including more than 150 galleries and dealers from New York, Miami, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Canada, the site allows customers to purchase original art ranging from a “$10 screen print by the up-and-comer Ryan Humphrey […]
August 6, 2013
Typically, museums cannot display more than a small fraction of their holdings, but soon that’s going to change. The LA County Museum of Art has decided to take out hundreds, maybe thousands, of items and will simply show more pieces in less space. Some details may not be presented, but at least the materials will […]
August 6, 2013
Now here’s a project that sounds like a lot of fun: mix together kids, a great story, some props and costumes, and put on a story mob. This will be happening in Toronto this summer, check out their website for details. Anyone should be able to replicate this idea in their own neighborhood. (“Jillian Jiggs” […]
August 6, 2013
A new anthology of crime fiction will include a short story written by a 17-year-old Stieg Larsson. The anthology titled A Darker Shade of Sweden to be published February 2014 will feature stories from 20 Swedish writers, including Henning Mankell, Asa Larsson, Maj Sjowall, Per Wahloo , and Sara Stridsberg. Mr Larsson’s companion Eva Gabrielsson […]
August 6, 2013
Fans of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will be excited to hear that creator Bernie Su is launching the next Austen-based web series, and it’s going to be based on Emma. For Austen fans who haven’t seen the wildly popular webseries, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice told entirely through […]
August 5, 2013
To help answer this common question among many library patrons, the State Library of Kansas created a facebook page to explain which eBooks are not available for libraries at all, and why others are too expensive to purchase or lease. In an interview on NPR, Jo Budler, the State Librarian of Kansas, explained that while […]
August 2, 2013
Customers in a Belgian bookstore were treated to the aroma of chocolate, and as a result, according to researchers and this NPR post, were “40 percent more likely to buy romance novels and cookbooks, and about 22 percent more likely to buy books in other genres.” Belgian researchers, concluding that the smell of chocolate boosts […]
