2h
Shay Castle writes: “You may have seen them in the New York Times, or on your favorite guilty pleasure website for softer news. But now, thanks to Boulder (Colo.) Public Library, you might actually get to wear the internet-famous sweaters of Sam Barsky. Special Boulder- and Colorado-themed sweaters, created just for the exhibit, will be available to check out, for up to 24 hours at a time on a first-come, first-served basis. A library card is required to borrow a sweater.”
Denver Post, Aug. 17; New York Times, April 3
5h
Voting for the 2018 Teens’ Top Ten official titles is now open through October 13. The voting page, hosted by DOGObooks, showcases all 25 nominees with their respective book covers and summaries, as well as the opportunity for teens to leave comments about their favorite titles. The top ten titles will be announced following Teen Read Week, which takes place October 7–13. All teens aged 12–18 are eligible to vote for up to three of their favorite titles.
YALSA, Aug. 15
5h
Eric Ravenscraft writes: “When you buy a console, it usually comes with a single controller, no games, and some amount of internal storage, with the option to upgrade. But you usually want to get at least one extra controller (and maybe more). We also tend to recommend a charging station so you don’t end up spending a fortune on batteries. Finally, each console has a subscription for online game play that includes free games. With all that in mind, here’s what it costs to get up and running with the basics on every version of the current major consoles.”
Review Geek, Aug. 17
7h
Daniel Oberhaus writes: “Over the past year, German journalist Svea Eckert and a small team of journalists went undercover to investigate a massive underground network of fake science journals and conferences. In the course of the investigation, which was chronicled in the documentary Inside the Fake Science Factory, the team analyzed over 175,000 articles published in predatory journals and found hundreds of papers from academics at leading institutions, as well as substantial amounts of research pushed by pharmaceutical corporations, tobacco companies, and others.”
Motherboard, Aug. 14
7h
Mary Schreiber writes: “The #MeToo movement has sparked people, usually women but not always, to come forward and name names of creators of children’s books whose behavior is unacceptable. So, like me, you may be wondering, what can I do professionally to make a difference? How can I let publishers know that I’m not okay with this behavior from the authors and illustrators of children’s books?”
ALSC Blog, Aug. 13
7h
Eugenia Williamson writes: “Aretha Franklin has died. In her lifetime, the musical giant inspired a trove of books about or inspired by her outsized legacy. In tribute, we offer this bibliography of recommended titles linked to their excerpted Booklist reviews—a small fraction of the books in which Franklin appears as a key figure in Black history, Civil Rights history, rock music, soul music, and gospel.”
Booklist Reader, Aug. 16; New York Times, Aug. 16
24h
A traveling installation by Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal at Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum seeks to refill the empty shelves at the College of Fine Arts at the University of Baghdad, which lost 70,000 books when it was looted and burned during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The exhibit, 168:01, features thousands of blank white books arranged on bookshelves, and visitors are encouraged to donate money to replace a fake book with a real one from an Amazon wishlist compiled by the university.
The Art Newspaper, Aug. 7
