Imagine how much easier it would be to get kids excited about going to the library if the library itself doubled as a playground. That’s exactly what’s happened in an earthquake-ravaged village in China’s Yunnan Province. The town’s new library doubles as a community center with a slide on top. And it’s beautiful.
No less than six patrons of the Port Orange Library in Florida have been attacked by a pair of book-hating hawks over the past week. Now, the library is protecting its brave bibliophiles the only way it knows how—with umbrellas.
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Churches tend to ebb and flow with generations: Chapels close after neighborhoods are redeveloped, cathedrals are abandoned after religious upheaval. So, what then? In more than a few cases, they’ve been turned into bookstores and libraries.
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Do you like Wikipedia? Are you a fan of obscenely wealthy educational institutions with unspeakable power? Then you’ll love the job listing that just went up at Harvard. They’re hiring a Wikipedian-in-Residence. It pays by the hour.
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This stunning image of a crowded, multi-layered library is not the work of M.C. Escher. It’s actually the National Library of China in Beijing, as featured in Travel 365. The library looks big because it is big: the fifth largest in the world, in fact, with over 24 million items in 1.8 million square feet. [National Geographic Travel]
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Amidst endless stories about the death of the printed word and the closing of America’s libraries, another issue remains unresolved: What’s to be done with all the leftover books? In Albany, administrators at the former State Library are embroiled in a debate over the value of books—and what’s "too precious" to throw away.
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One of the great joys offered by an old library is stepping through the doors and being greeted by an overwhelming sense of stillness. Endless stories exist between the covers resting on the shelves but, until you crack open a title and start to read, it’s blissfully oh so quiet.
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Ever since the internet came along, our relationship to libraries has changed dramatically. But recent studies show that these institutions—pillars of the OG sharing economy—are still viewed as essential to American communities. So it’s fascinating to take a look through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign‘s collection of posters and propaganda from the American Library Association, an organization founded in 1876 and still going strong in its quest to make libraries—both physical and digital—cultural hubs for learning and leisure.
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Lupie Leyva has answered questions about immigration issues, taught people how to use email, and once even helped a person make an appointment to see a family member who was incarcerated. "I’ve worked in public libraries for 10 years," she says. "Nothing surprises me anymore."
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Digging through the archives of old libraries is a blast. Depending on the library, you’ll find everything from dated architectural drawings to snippets of old children’s books. You can just imagine the treasures to be found in the British Library’s ancient archive. And, now, you don’t even have to get your fingers dusty!
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This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
