How to Read an Entire Book in a Single Day by Patrick Allan

You’ve been putting off reading that book for weeks, and you’re supposed to have read it all by tomorrow. Whether you’re cramming for school, or trying to avoid looking like a lazy bum in your book club, don’t lose hope. You can power through that tome without forgetting everything and coming away with nothing.

Reading an entire book in a matter of hours may seem daunting, but it all comes down to simple math. The average adult reads around 200-400 words per minute. The average novel ranges between 60,000 and 100,000 words total. If your reading speed is right in the middle of the pack at 300 words per minute, and you’re reading a middle-of-the-pack novel at around 80,000 words, you’ll be able to knock it out in around five hours or less.

That might seem like a lot, but it’s totally possible. And you can do it without any skimming or speed reading trickery, which can be bad when it comes to truly absorbing information. For the most part, it’s possible to read at your usual pace, absorb information at your brain’s preferred rate, and all you have to do is buckle down, make the time, and get started as soon as possible. Read more...

The beautiful Icelandic tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve

CC BY 2.0 Steve Bissonette

Katherine Martinko (@feistyredhair)
Living / Culture
December 21, 2015

Book lovers will want to adopt this lovely holiday tradition, which melds literary and holiday pleasures into a single event.

Icelanders have a beautiful tradition of giving books to each other on Christmas Eve and then spending the night reading. This custom is so deeply ingrained in the culture that it is the reason for the Jolabokaflod, or “Christmas Book Flood,” when the majority of books in Iceland are sold between September and December in preparation for Christmas giving.

At this time of year, most households receive an annual free book catalog of new publications called the Bokatidindi. Icelanders pore over the new releases and choose which ones they want to buy, fueling what Kristjan B. Jonasson, president of the Iceland Publishers Association, describes as “the backbone of the publishing industry.”

"It's like the firing of the guns at the opening of the race," says Baldur Bjarnason, a researcher who has written about the Icelandic book industry. "It's not like this is a catalog that gets put in everybody's mailbox and everybody ignores it. Books get attention here."

The small Nordic island, with a population of only 329,000 people, is extraordinarily literary. They love to read and write. According to a BBC article, “The country has more writers, more books published and more books read, per head, than anywhere else in the world… One in 10 Icelanders will publish [a book].” Read more...http://lifehacker.com/how-to-read-an-entire-book-in-a-single-day-1749070044

Yes, Chief Justice Roberts, a prison library can be a ‘very good library

By Valerie Schultz December 17

Valerie Schultz works as a library technical assistant for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Chief Justice John Roberts in Washington in 2013. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., I’m surprised at you. Didn’t your mother raise you better than to insult whole groups of people?

For those who are wondering, I’m talking about a remark the chief justice made last month during oral arguments in Bruce v. Samuels, a dispute about federal prisoners paying legal fees. Here I quote from Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog: When reminded that prisons maintain libraries, “Roberts then shot back, presumably sarcastically, ‘I’m sure they are very good libraries, too.’ ”

I run a library at a state prison for men in California, and I can attest that it is indeed a “very good library.” My library is tasked with assuring that inmates have access to the courts because, although they are convicted criminals, they retain certain civil and human rights. We provide them with access to legal forms, typewriters, law books and computers that can be used to research case law and the myriad rules of the courts, as well as a daily legal newspaper. We make available typing paper, numbered pleading paper and envelopes for filing court documents. We make the required number of copies of outgoing legal work. We weigh documents to determine the number of stamps needed for mailing. In short, we have everything that an inmate acting as his own lawyer needs to bring his concern to the attention of the appropriate court. Read more...

Because This Place Has Been Showing How Black Lives Matter for 90 Years

A First Fridays party in the Schomburg Center courtyard.  

(Photo: Cheryl Lathan/courtesy of the schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture)

For some, Harlem’s Schomburg Center is simply their local New York Public Library. But it’s also where you could have heard, recently, a lecture on Nat Turner, a scholarly discussion of the Young Lords Party (a Puerto Rican nationalist group), or a conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates. The library, around since 1925, also functions like a museum, with rotating exhibitions — next up, “Black Suburbia: From Levittown to Ferguson” and “Unveiling Visions: The Alchemy of the Black Imagination” — meant to introduce visitors to the center’s vast collection of art, film, and rare books and manuscripts. There’s also a gift shop filled with books by James Baldwin, Malcolm X, and Maya Angelou — as well as everything else that can be black: posters of African art, a Kwanzaa kinara, an Aretha Franklin CD. And there are, of course, Black Lives Matter T-shirts. It’s all a physical reminder — one I’ve lately sought out more and more — that the current political movement is built on a legacy that’s both deep and wide.

Because This Place Has Been Showing How Black Lives Matter for 90 Years

Library founded by family in memory of a man and his donkey

Güzelgöz realized that people living in the villages could not visit the library, so he placed a box full of books on a donkey and visited 36 villages to encourage people to read.

The  children of Mustafa Güzelgöz, who gained fame in Nevşehir's Ürgüp district after he traveled from village to village with his mobile library on his donkey in the 1940s, have established a museum to honor their father's memory. Aziz and Muammer Güzelgöz have been undertaking a reading campaign in the name of their father and they believe that they will be able to make their father's name live forever with the newly established museum. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Muammer Güzelgöz said his father, who was known as "the librarian with his donkey," passed away in 2005. The Güzelgöz siblings converted their father's house into a museum, however, they needed support from the Culture and Tourism Ministry in order to overcome deficiencies and set an example for future generations. Güzelgöz said he worked as a director of the library for years. "I want students of literature, history and geography to visit this library," said Güzelgöz. "We are already welcoming university students. Those who come to our museum will be able to see the objects that my father used for his reading campaign. We are also displaying a sewing machine. When no one came to his house to read books, my father set up a sewing machine. Women who came to sew had no choice but to read while waiting in line." The museum also displays articles from newspapers about Mustafa Güzelgöz, various photographs and correspondence Güzelgöz had with people who supported his campaign from abroad. Muammer Güzelgöz hopes that these materials will encourage people to read books and show respect to literature.  Read more...

http://sabahdai.ly/WSooP1

Discover a World of Opportunity at The New York Public Library! | The New York Public Library

Discover a World of Opportunity at The New York Public Library! | The New York Public Library

Are you a Librarian who is committed to changing lives and strengthening communities through the power of learning and reading? The New York Public Library is in the midst of a major expansion thanks to New York City’s recent historic investment in libraries—allowing us to build on our more than 100-year-old legacy as we continue to chart a new path for libraries in the 21st Century.  What we do, and do well, is connect people with collections, expertise, services, and programs that inform and inspire. Join NYPL to achieve your dreams while inspiring others. Our librarians start at $48,519 per year and are eligible in 6 months for an increased salary of $54,745! Learn more about careers at NYPL.

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How Social Media Changed The Way We Read Books

The boundary between author and readers is disappearing. What does that mean for the future of storytelling?

Maddie CrumBooks and Culture Writer, The Huffington Post

PHIL ASHLEY VIA GETTY IMAGES

Last week, during a dwindling work day, I scrolled through Twitter for something to engage me, something newsworthy or pithy or both. I felt drawn to the sort of tweet that was neither hackneyed nor too intimate, neither click-baity nor dry. After all, I’d curated a list of Twitter accounts that more or less pandered to my precise interests. News sites that specialize in deep dives into the uncanny, authors who manage to employ their style in 140-character observations.

Instead -- and I’m sure you’ll relate to this painful experience -- what I got was a rash of strangely dogmatic tweets from an author I like, Joyce Carol Oates. “This is sad,” the National Book Award-winning author wrote, “Please consider ‘fostering’ these orphans ... ” Embedded in the tweet is another tweet from @citykitties, and a link to adult cats in need of owners.

“God,” I wrote a coworker. “Joyce Carol Oates is everyone’s most condescending friend.” What I meant was that this type of tweeting -- sharing something tragic yet too specific to be engaged with meaningfully in quick, offhand conversation -- was uncomfortable to read. What I didn’t say was that I was confused and bothered by the dissonance between the words I was used to reading under her name, and the words she proliferated daily.

Read more...

The next war will be an information war, and we’re not ready for it written by David Stupples

In the 21st century the familiar form of warfare in which physical damage is meted out against the opponent’s military forces and infrastructure has become only one form of attack. Instead, states are increasingly launching non-lethal attacks against an enemy’s information systems – this is the rise of information warfare.

Dan Kuehl of the National Defence University defined information warfare as the “conflict or struggle between two or more groups in the information environment”. You might say that just sounds like a fancier way of describing hacking. In fact it’s a lot more sinister and a lot more dangerous than its somewhat tame name implies.

Western leaders are investing billions to develop capabilities matching those of China and Russia, establishing military commands for attacking, defending and exploiting the vulnerabilities of electronic communications networks. Information warfare combines electronic warfare, cyberwarfare and psy-ops (psychological operations) into a single fighting organisation, and this will be central to all warfare in the future.

The anatomy of information warfare

The free flow of information within and between nation states is essential to business, international relations and social cohesion, as much as information is essential to a military force’s ability to fight. Communications today lean heavily on the internet, or via communications using various parts of the electromagnetic spectrum (such as radio or microwaves) through terrestrial communications networks or satellite networks in space. We live in a highly connected world, but it doesn’t take much to tip over into instability or even chaos. Read more...

Refugees Supported by Public Libraries in Europe by Julia Pyatetsky on November 24, 2015

Due to the civil war in Syria, its people are leaving in droves and many are now refugees seeking asylum. Despite how difficult it has been for refugees to even be allowed into some countries, public libraries in Europe are on the forefront of making them feel as welcome and safe as possible. From the UK to Norway to Germany, public libraries are ensuring that refugees not only have access to information but also an environment where they can feel supported and empowered.

The European Bureau of Library, Information, and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) is an independent umbrella association of library, information, documentation, and archive associations and institutions in Europe. They’ve issued a press release on the topic “Public Libraries in Europe Welcome Refugees”. The release includes this important statement: “EBLIDA understands the concerns of some countries in dealing with the refugee crisis and acknowledges that careful consideration requiring governmental measures at European and local level are necessary to facilitate the mass migration. At the same time, EBLIDA believes that libraries all over Europe should act as a platform for democratic and open-minded values, and be a safe place where social inclusiveness for all is a priority.”  Many European countries have taken this to heart accordingly and appropriately. Read more...

In Iceland, a Literary Tour Explores Rich History By DEAN NELSONNOV. 17, 2015

Statues of Hannes Hafstein, foreground, and King Christian IX in Reykjavik. CreditBara Kristinsdottir for The New York Times

Standing in the dark outside the Reykjavik public library in the relentless damp chill that comes with a light rain at 40 degrees, I kept trying to zip up my jacket. The charcoal sky was a shade lighter than the inky ocean a few blocks away, but it was noon, not twilight. I had a few minutes to bundle up before an outdoor walking tour on literary Iceland began. As if on cue, the zipper snapped off in my hand.

I could write here, I thought. There is a constant struggle in this place, often larger than a failed zipper, a theme that inspired the 1,000-year-old Icelandic sagas that touch on the nation’s Norwegian and Irish roots and the mythic tales of elves and trolls.

These days, the country is best known as the backdrop for the myths of our day: films like “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “Interstellar,” “Noah” and “Prometheus.” (Not to mention the TV series “Game of Thrones.”)

But as I talked to people in Reykjavik, the culture of storytelling seemed to be the source of their greatest national pride. The country has a nearly 100 percent literacy rate. Halldor Laxness won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1955, and Unesco declared Reykjavik a City of Literature in 2011, only the fifth in the world. Researchers show that at least 90 percent of Icelanders age 16 or older read at least one book a year just for pleasure, and that the gift most requested by children at Christmas time is a book.

Photo

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Beneath New York Public Library, Shelving Its Past for High-Tech Research Stacks By TOM MASHBERGNOV. 15, 2015

he New York Public Library is creating a vast underground space for its research collection, after abandoning plans to move much of it to New Jersey. CreditJames Estrin/The New York Times

As they skate or snack in Bryant Park, visitors might dismiss the statelyNew York Public Library next door as a dog-eared relic in an age of digital information.

But unbeknown to most of them, 17 feet below ground, in a concrete bunker worthy of the White House, the library is expanding and updating one of the most sophisticated book storage systems in the world.

Since March, after abandoning a much-criticized plan to move the bulk of its research collection to New Jersey, the library has been working instead to create a high-tech space underground for the 2.5 million research works long held in its original stacks.

Read more....

Libraries are changing international development By Jacob Brogan

Mmankgodi Community Library in Botswana, where the Gates Foundation has helped create library services designed to encourage small business development.

Photo by Fiona Bradley/Flickr Creative Commons

This article is part of Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. On Thursday, Nov. 12, Future Tense will host an event in Washington, D.C., on the future of the library. For more information and to RSVP, visit the New America website.

Discussions of the future of libraries are often surprisingly nostalgic endeavors, producing laments for vanished card catalogs or shrinking book stacks rather than visions of what might be. Even at their most hopeful, such conversations sometimes lose track of the pragmatic functions that libraries serve. Imagined as unchanging archives, libraries become mere monuments to our analog past. But envisioning them as purely digital spaces also misses the mark, capturing neither what they can be nor the way their patrons use them.

According to a recent report by the Pew Research Center, low-income and minority Americans are far more likely than others to assert that they would be negatively affected if their local library closed. The survey suggests that this has much, or more, to do with access to computers and the Internet—which is critical for job searchers and entrepreneurs—as it does with the opportunity to check out books. Public libraries aren’t just educational destinations; they also provide access to economic opportunities available through few other venues.  Read more...

VHP at 15: Collections over the Years (Experiences War: Stories from the Veterans History Project(Library of Congress: loc.gov)

The Library of Congress' Veterans History Project is a great project and a wonderful way to honor those who have served. This Veterans Day, take some time to read their stories or consider helping to record the story of the veteran in your life.

The Library of Congress	Veterans History Project Home
In 2015, the Veterans History Project celebrates fifteen years of collecting the stories of America's war veterans. To commemorate the occasion, here we highlight 15 different collections, donated to us during the first five, ten, and fifteen years of VHP's existence. While these collections vary widely in scope, each fulfills VHP's mission of capturing the stories of veterans in their own words. Whether they were submitted to us in the early days of the project, or later on, these fifteen collections represent a mere fraction of the over 99,000 collections in the Veterans History Project archive--all of which communicate the experience of war. Five Years 2000-2005 Robert E. Cassidy  ARMY Korean War Audio Interview Thomas J. Hudner, Jr. NAVY Korean War Vietnam War  Video and Audio Interviews, Photos Herman F. Monoschein AIR FORCE World War II Korean War  Video Interview Martha Settle Putney WAAC World War II Video Interview Gary L. Villereal ARMY Vietnam War Video Interview Ten Years 2005-2010 Felmers O. Chaney ARMY World War II Video Interviews James E. Frolking ARMY AIR CORPS World War II Audio Interview, Memoir, Photos, Personal Correspondence James Noboru Miho ARMY Korean War Video Interviews Bernadette P. Miller ARMY Vietnam War Video Interview, Photos Lucius Byron Nash NAVY World War I Photos, Official Documents, Personal Correspondence Fifteen Years 2010-2015 Rollins Edwards ARMY World War II Audio Interview Adam Jordan Holt  ARMY Iraq War Audio Interview Kurt Chew-Een Lee  MARINE CORPS World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War Video Interview, Official Documents Elisa Raney NAVY Iraq War Video Interview, Photos Edwin Trawczynski ARMY Vietnam War Memoir, Photos, Personal Corredspondence
Other Collections of Interest: Robert Andraski Jason Brown Francis Galligan Henry Heimlich Jack Jones Laura J. Brautigam June Elizabeth McIntosh Logan Mehl-Laituri	Search the Veterans Database: Search by Keyword Browse by Last Name Browse by War/Military Branch Browse by State of Residence Browse by Race/Ethnicity   View ALL Stories: View ALL Stories in an Alphabetical List View ALL Stories by Theme
Playing the audio and video files - Building the digital collection - Copyright and restrictions - Credits
The Library of Congress            Legal | External Link Disclaimer   October 28, 2015	Veterans History Project Home Contact Us

http://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/ex-war-15years.html?loclr=twloc

Improving Health Literacy, One Public Library at a Time Public resources and training programs for librarians

Marilynn Lance-Robb, branch manager at the Carvers Bay Branch Library in Georgetown, South Carolina, assists a patron with health information.Photo: Marilynn Lance-Robb

The first thing that Jennifer Davis tells patrons who come to her seeking medical information is not to Google their symptoms. “It’s the worst thing you could possibly do,” says Davis, director of Hall Memorial Library, which serves the communities of Northfield and Tilton, New Hampshire.

Instead, Davis assists patrons with their health care questions by helping them find information on Medline-Plus, an authoritative, free website where the public can find health information in more than 40 languages.

Although Davis, a former medical librarian, is familiar with health care topics, most public librarians do not necessarily have a medical background. Still they may be faced with an assortment of health-related questions from the public every day.

Read more...

A Peek Inside the Boxes

Time Inc. has donated its company archive to the New-York Historical Society. Among the 7,500 linear feet of files are these intriguing objects. NOV. 5, 2015

CreditSam Hodgson for The New York Times

A CEREMONIAL TROWEL

Building Time & Life

A ceremonial trowel used in 1959 as the symbolic cornerstone was laid at the Time & Life Building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, an event attended by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder of Time Inc., and other dignitaries. In the cornerstone is a time capsule that Bill Hooper, the company archivist, hopes can be extracted and opened on the magazine’s 100th anniversary in 2023.

Read more http://nyti.ms/1MM0cOz
See also:

Time Inc.’s Record of the 20th Century, in Thousands of Boxes, Is Moving

By DAVID W. DUNLAPNOV. 5, 2015

Family Literacy at a Food Pantry

Family Literacy at a Food Pantry: In this webinar, learn how Cazenovia Public Library operates learning-focused programs for the whole family at a local food pantry.

The Cazenovia Public Library
is connecting the dots between early literacy, the local food pantry
and family well-being, and they’re doing it all on a small budget.
Starting with an Early Literacy project at the CazCares food pantry,
library outreach coordinators began to build more in-depth relationships
with the food pantry’s clients. Their interactions led to unexpected
positive outcomes:

• adults obtaining their high school equivalency through the library tutoring program;
• school age children participating in an interactive summer learning program and book club;
• and the food pantry becoming the site for ESL classes, Dolly
  Parton Imagination Library sign ups and health literacy initiatives.

Find out how this innovative library team supplemented their small
budget with donations and volunteers to make Family Literacy work for
the community.


Presented by: Betsy Kennedy, Director, Cazenovia Public Library

Amazon is opening a physical bookstore that has one key difference from traditional shops by Max Slater-Robins

Amazon

Amazon on Tuesday is opening a physical store in Seattle called "Amazon Books," the first real-world bookstore for the company, which has operated online since 1994.

The store will include both books and Amazon products, such as the Kindle, Echo, and Fire TV, the company said on its website.

The company will use information it has gathered from its online store, such as customer ratings, to help select titles in its physical store.

"We're taking the data we have and we're creating physical places with it," Jennifer Cast, vice president of Amazon Books, told The Seattle Times.

Each book will also include a placard showing its Amazon.com rating and customer reviews,according to The Verge.

Here's how those reviews will be displayed alongside the physical book:

Amazon

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