It is no secret that libraries remain one of my favorite things to write about. In this feature for the NEH's Humanities magazine, I look at the astonishing variety of social-service roles that public libraries are called on to fill, and how they're responding to that call. Read More at Humanities magazine »
Writing
“Books have become the new ‘it’ fashion accessory. Is that such a bad thing?”
Supermodels Bella and Gigi Hadid made a splash recently when they were photographed toting their current reads. They're hardly the first beautiful people to use books as attention-getters. Think of Eve Arnold's iconic 1955 photo of Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses. I say we should celebrate, not snark. Read More at The Washington Post »
The Art of the Political Cartoon: A Vital, Vanishing Form
Even as traditional outlets for it shrink, socially conscious art and the desire to make it remain as strong as ever. Read More at Art & Object »
“What We Lose by Reading 100,000 Words a Day”
The ability to re-read long novels might not seem directly relevant to our current political dysfunction, but neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf makes a strong case that it is in her new book, Reader, Come Home. I reviewed the book for The Washington Post. Read More at The Washington Post »
“Copy Machines in Libraries Are Going the Way of the Dodo–Slowly”
I'm always interested in how familiar tools--like the copy machine--change over time or give way to other tools and what that says about how we live, so this story was fun to do. Read More at EdSurge »
