Category Archives: Libraries

Imagination Library

Posted on February 27, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

You probably know Dolly Parton as a country singer and actress, but you may not be aware that she is a philanthropist and huge supporter of childhood literacy programs. In 1995, she launched Imagination Library, a literacy program that mails … Continue reading →

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The temple of knowledge

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

The Temple of Knowledge is a heartwarming video from the folks at StoryCorps that animates Ronald Clark’s memories of his father, who worked for the New York Public Library. Clark’s film tells the story of the time when library caretakers, along … Continue reading →

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Underground Books Go Digital

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

For more than 20 years, public transit riders in Santiago, Chile have been able to borrow books from a network of mini-library vending machines in Metro stations. Now the service, which is provided by the municipal government and the Directorate … Continue reading →

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It’s World Read Aloud Day

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Today is the annual World Read Aloud Day across the globe. As part of the ongoing campaign to encourage reading to children of all ages, the international nonprofit LitWorld has teamed-up with publisher Scholastic. Activities have been planned for classrooms and libraries to help … Continue reading →

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Literary Illustration

Posted on January 28, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

There is a long history of utilizing maps as a mode of literary illustration. The current exhibition Landmarks: Maps As Literary Illustration at Harvard’s Houghton Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts brings together a wonderful collection of more than sixty literary maps of places … Continue reading →

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My Kind of Recycling

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

During the last eight months, the trash collectors in the Çankaya District of Ankara, Turkey have rescued more than 5,000 books from the garbage. Thanks to their diligence, a lending library has been created in the townhall. The library is open … Continue reading →

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Bibliotheques Dangereuses

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

For those of us who know and love Paris as visitors, the 18th arrondissement conjures images of the atmospheric, hilly streets of Montmartre or the grandeur of the Basilica of Sare-Coeur. The reality of the district is far from our … Continue reading →

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Library Tourism

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Starfield COEX Mall is one of Asia’s largest underground malls. Located near the Samsung Metro station in Seoul and adjacent to the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center, it also features an amazing two-story library. With forty -foot tall bookshelves and … Continue reading →

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It’s The Thought That Counts

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

What’s a writer with limited financial resources to do when the holidays roll around and he wants to send gifts?  For Langston Hughes, during the holiday season of 1950, the answer was to share some of his wit in homemade … Continue reading →

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Library of the Future

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

h/t Tom Gauld

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