“We all read from different places, different backgrounds, and my meeting with Proust or Woolf, or Lydia Davis or J. M. Coetzee, will not be yours, nor should it be. On the other hand I do believe reading is an active skill, an art even, certainly not a question of passive absorption.”
Tag: 12.18.14
Board Fires CEO Of Queens Library System In NYC
“The library’s Board of Trustees axed Galante on Wednesday after reviewing his expense accounts, which included charging more than $40,000 to his library credit card for food, alcohol and entertainment. Galante is still facing federal and city probes into how he managed library funds.”
Dancer With Severe Autism Says Ballet Saved His Life
“The stage is the one place Philip Martin-Nelson feels right at home. But it wasn’t always that way. Diagnosed with the most severe form of autism, Philip was unable to speak, make eye contact, or even allow someone to touch him for the first three years of his life.” (includes video)
Director Of Hartford’s Wadsworth Atheneum To Retire
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while,” said Susan L. Talbott, who will step down this fall. “I’m 65. I’ve had a great career and I really like the idea of leaving on a high note, when the [museum’s $33 million] renovation is complete.”
England’s Public Library System Needs Urgent Overhaul, Says Panel
“William Sieghart’s Independent Library Report for England, published today, urges ‘a reinvigoration of the library network’, calling on Westminster to provide funding so local authorities can roll out Wi-Fi to every public library in England as part of a new national digital resource.”
The Hipster Rebranding Of Libraries Has Begun
Libraries should “become more like coffee shops with free Wi-Fi and comfy sofas, according to a report into the future of the service. The era of libraries as hushed reading rooms with books as their sole product is over.”
The Author Of ‘Unbroken’ Has Revolutionized Nonfiction Writing – Without Leaving Her House
“Perhaps the biggest challenge for Hillenbrand as a reporter are the periods when she cannot read. When the vertigo surges, as it has in recent years, she has trouble focusing her eyes on the page without dizziness.”
The Hacked Sony Emails Are Picking Apart The Tangled Web Of Hollywood
“Another set of broken or bruised relationships involves black stars and filmmakers, a group with whom Sony formerly had very sturdy ties.”
The Intricate Dance Of Machine And Human In The Marble Quarry [VIDEO]
“In the Apuan Alps of northern Tuscany in Italy, ‘Il Capo’ or the chief directs the processes of extraction at a quarry for Carrara marble.”
The Art Of Making A (Perfect) Tutu
“Bacon only takes on a handful of commissions per season—this year, she has five in the works. They’ll keep her busy until competition time rolls around early in 2015.”