Heads up, Researchers! Vatican library to reopen after 3 year break

September 14, 2010

After $11.5 million dollars, improved climate  controls,  and heightened security  measures, the Vatican announced the reopening of its Apostolic library. All 70,000 volumes were off limits to the four to five thousand scholars who visit the facility annually. Started in 1450, the collection is renowned for its rare and spectacularly illuminated manuscripts. Shira S.


Read a Koran/Qur’an Day

September 10, 2010

Heard about the Dove World Outreach Center’s plan to publicly burn a stack of Korans on September 11th? Just in time for Banned Books Week, many organizations around the world are promoting September 11th as “International Read a Koran Day”. For those wishing to participate, or who simply want to know more about his highly […]


ALA Banned Books Week ReadOut event at EPL

September 4, 2010

If you are passionate about the Right to Read and want to celebrate Banned/Challenged books, then join the discussion during a “Banned Books Week ReadOut” at Evanston Public Library on Friday, September 24 from 3 – 6 p.m.  ALA’s annual “Banned Books Week” will be observed September 25 – October 2, 2010.  (read more)


Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces

August 31, 2010

If you’re trying to find creative solutions for small spaces in your home, then take a look at the tips and photos in Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces  for inspiration. Filled with great ideas from small homes across the country!  For even more photos and advice, see the Apartment Therapy blog.


Barack Obama Collection at Northwestern University Library

August 31, 2010

Voice of American featured the  exhibit of Barack Obama ephemera at Northwestern University Melville J. Herskovitz Library of African Studies.  Entitled “Africa Embraces Obama“, the collection is one of the largest gathering of Barack Obama items in the world.


Recommendation of Letters

August 27, 2010

I always feel a little strange reading collections of correspondences by famous authors, artists, or other persons of interest. It feels a bit like snooping, like peering in on private words and lives that were not meant for me. I often find myself wondering what the author of the letters would have thought of having words […]


The Open Road Wasn’t Quite Open to All

August 26, 2010

For almost three decades beginning in 1936, many African-American travelers relied on a booklet to help them decide where they could comfortably eat, sleep, buy gas, find a tailor or beauty parlor, shop on a honeymoon to Niagara Falls, or go out at night. In 1949, when the guide was 80 pages, there were five […]


What Did Chairman Mao Read?

August 24, 2010

Do you need to be able to “deep read” to be a world leader? Following the interview mentioned below, this segment on “All Things Considered” featured producer Brent Baughman speaking with Yale University’s Charles Hill on the reading choices world leaders are making, and the vanishing popularity of seeking guidance from the so-called “classics.” My instant reaction […]


The Demise of “Deep Reading”

August 24, 2010

You might think it surprising that Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, is really worried we’re losing the special ability to do so-called deep reading.  After all, as NPR’s Audie Cornish pointed out, Google has been pegged as the gateway drug for short attention spans. In an interview with developmental psychologist Maryanne Wolf on the potential loss of a […]


Top 10 Highest Paid Authors

August 23, 2010

Check out Forbes’ list of the highest paid authors. Who’s at the top? James Patterson. You can read more about James Patterson Inc. in a profile featured in the New York Times in January (a link to which was also posted earlier on this blog).


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