Required reading: The books that students read in 28 countries around the world

Reader's Advisory

Dec 7, 2016 / Daryl Chen + Laura McClure

iStock

This compilation of reading assigned to students everywhere will expand your horizons — and your bookshelves.

In the US, most students are required to read To Kill a Mockingbird during their school years. This classic novel combines a moving coming-of-age story with big issues like racism and criminal injustice. Reading Mockingbird is such an integral part of the American educational experience that we wondered: What classic books are assigned to students elsewhere?

We posed this question to our TED-Ed Innovative Educators and members of the TED-Ed community. People all over the globe responded, and we curated our list to focus on local authors.
Many respondents made it clear in their countries, as in the US, few books are absolutely mandatory. Take a look at what students in countries from Ireland to Iran, Ghana to Germany, are asked to read and why:

Read article

Libraries across the country look to Hennepin County Library for response to Black Lives Matter

By Kelly Smith Star Tribune

July 14, 2016 — 10:06pm 

Libraries may seem an unlikely place to go in the search for answers after the police shooting of Philando Castile and Black Lives Matter protests in the Twin Cities.

But the Hennepin County Library, the state’s largest library system, has responded by launching a Black Lives Matter teen reading list that is now being replicated at libraries across the country. For the first time, one of its reading lists also has been picked up by national publications.

It’s part of an effort by public libraries across the country to take action after the troubling events, hoping that the power of books can help educate residents on racial issues and support the community.

“It’s in the DNA of a library to do this,” Library Director Lois Langer Thompson said. “Reading is part of the healing and helps us understand.”

Read more...

11 Bookish Things To Add To Your Summer Bucket List by Alex Weiss

Spencer Platt/Getty Images News /Getty Images

Ever since I was a kid, writing up a summer bucket list has been a constant tradition. My past bucket lists have included silly things like attaining the phone number of my middle school crush or reading an insane number of books before school started back up. Bucket lists can include anything from embarking on road-trip adventures to facing a big fear that's been holding you back. It's anything you want, and if you're a book lover like myself, odds are you have a bucket list that contains a lot of books, too.

Spending your summer days with a good book and glass of lemonade is what dreams are made of — at least for book nerds. It's not so much about the tan or the temperature of the beach waves, but more so about the characters and settings within the books we hold close to our hearts. While you probably have a good number of books you're adding to your bucket list this year, consider adding a couple book-related activities to it as well. After all, you will need a little time in-between books that break your heart or blow your mind.

Gather your closest book loving friends and plan for one fantastic summer full of bookstores, arts and crafts, writing, and a whole lot of reading with these 11 fun things to add to your summer book bucket list:

1. Visit A New Or Your Favorite Bookstore Once A Week

 Read more...

25 Nonfiction Titles for Guys Who Aren’t Big Readers

by Eileen M. Washburn on May 16, 2016

I’m a children’s librarian at a smaller library with one reference/circulation desk, so I make recommendations to people of all ages. One of my favorite patrons is the guy who gets a new library card because he now has some time on his hands maybe due to a surgery. Or the guy who gets dragged into the library by his wife who insists he has something to read on their beach vacation. I can identify with this guy because he sounds an awful lot like my husband. As an electrical engineer, my husband reads manuals at work all day. When he’s home, he’d rather work in the yard or catch a game if he has any downtime. But what kind of librarian would I be if I didn’t bring him home books occasionally?

So with some input from my coworkers, I have compiled a list for you to recommend to that guy who might just try a nonfiction book if you bug him enough. These are titles that won’t disappoint. You’re probably already familiar with some of them, but maybe you’ll find a new gem to recommend (My husband wants you to know that Under and Alone is the only book he ever got out of bed to read to find out what happened next).
 Read more...

Einstein started a book club, and here's the reading list by Ilana Strauss | Tuesday, May 10, 2016

What the beloved genius and his buddies discussed in the Olympia Academy is legendary.

 

(Photo: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

It's hard to think about Albert Einstein without imagining an old, crazy-haired genius. But once upon a time, before he ever came up with a theory of relativity, founded Jerusalem's Hebrew University or had his brain stolen, Einstein was a 23-year-old patent clerk, working for minimum wage and bumming around Bern, Switzerland.

The young man decided to earn some extra cash tutoring physics. He put up an ad, and philosophy student Maurice Solovine responded. The two didn't do much traditional studying, but instead chatted about philosophy. Einstein's friend, mathematician Conrad Habicht, joined their debates, and the three met regularly over drinks and cigars in Einstein's bohemian apartment to read and discuss physics and philosophy, mockingly calling themselves the Olympia Academy.

Even after the club broke up a few years later, Einstein said it influenced many of his theories. We've gathered together some of the books and essays the Olympia Academy read and discussed. Maybe the literature that inspired Einstein can inspire you to be clear and clever, too. View slideshow....