Organizers of World Book Day want to harness the power of word of mouth to promote reading. They plan to distribute 8 million postcards which would “enable one in seven people in the British population to recommend a book to a friend, or enemy. The card, due to come tumbling out of virtually every publication in Britain until World Book Day on March 3, are designed by artists ranging from the Guardian’s Graham Rawle to Peter Blake and Simon Patterson. The organisers, whose mission is to raise the profile of reading and book buying and borrowing, call this harnessing the power of recommendation, and are focusing it on a single day.”
Tag: 02.16.05
Call To Arms: Help Cuban Librarians
Nat Hentoff says jailed Cuban librarians need the help of American libraries. “How inspiring it would be if the world-renowned New York Public Library and its president, Paul Leclerc, would join the small Vermillion Public Library in South Dakota to further circulate stories and songs of freedom by sending books—and encouragement—to the Cuban independent libraries. Many of the multicultural users of New York’s library system would be proud of its flagship center and its lions guarding the freedom to read.”
Central Park Gates Draw Million People
More than a million people have been to Central Park to see the Christo Gates. “An estimated 350,000 people visited the park on Saturday’s opening day; even more – 450,000 – came Sunday. Rain reduced crowds on Monday, the conservancy said, but noted that 200,000 visited on Tuesday, when U.S. First Lady Laura Bush was among those in attendance. By comparison, the park typically receives 65,000 visitors a day during weekends in February. In the spring during the city’s busy tourist season, the park receives about 250,000 visitors a day on weekends.”
Iran Dams Threaten Archaeological Sites
Several dam projects in Iran seriously threaten important archaeological sites. Some of those projects may be delayed so surveys can be completed. Others are out of time…
British Government Knew Queen’s Benin Bronze Had Been “Expropriated”
The British Foreign Office knew back in the 1970s that a Benin bronze head given to the Queen by Benin’s president had been “expropriated” from the Lagos Museum. “The bronze which Gowon gave to the Queen on his [1973] state visit was a sixteenth century piece worth up to £30,000 on the market. It was in the Lagos Museum up to a few days before Gowon left for the UK when, realising he had to come bearing a suitable gift, he sent to the Museum and said ‘I’ll have that one’.”