House introduces bill seeking $5 billion for library facilities
The American Library Association (ALA) this week welcomed the bipartisan introduction in the House of a bill that would provide $5 billion to support long-term improvements to library facilities, including addressing needs that have...
Libraries oppose censorship. So they’re getting creative when it comes to offensive kids’ books
It's a wondrous thing to introduce a child to a beloved book, to read with them as they enter a literary world generations before them have enjoyed. But the nostalgia and thrill of bonding...
Six Dr. Seuss books to cease publication
Six Dr. Seuss books will no longer be published because they "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong," the business that preserves the author's legacy said.
The titles are: "And to Think...
Sourcebooks and E.L. James create imprint
Sourcebooks and E.L. James, author of the Fifty Shades trilogy, are creating an as-yet unnamed imprint that will, Sourcebooks said, focus on "entrepreneurial women authors who want to benefit from all that a top...
Obituary: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, bookseller and poet
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, distinguished American poet, artist, and founder of City Lights Booksellers and Publishers, died in San Francisco, California on Feb 22, aged 101. Ferlinghetti was instrumental in democratizing American literature by creating (with...
Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny team up on new thriller
Hillary Rodham Clinton has partnered with Louise Penny on a new book, State of Terror, which will be published jointly by St. Martin's Press and Simon & Schuster on October 12.
State of Terror, S&S...
Congressman and others vow to fight Amazon, monopolies
Yesterday, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance hosted a seminar on the topic of "Reining in Monopoly Power: Small Businesses and the Push to Strengthen Antitrust Laws." The keynote talk was delivered by Congressman David...
Bookstore sales fell 28% in 2020
Bookstore sales rallied slightly in December from deep monthly slumps for most of 2020, but were still down 15.2% in the last month of the year compared to December 2019. For all of 2020,...
Deacon King Kong and Fathoms win Carnegie Medals
Deacon King Kong by James McBride has won the American Library Association's 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Fathoms: The World in the Whale by Rebecca Giggs has won the 2021 Andrew...
Local newspapers fight back at Facebook and Google
Lurking behind a groundbreaking lawsuit recently filed in federal court in West Virginia is a haunting question: What if? What if local newspapers had been able to compete successfully for digital advertising revenue as their...
