- A survey from School Library Journal shows that not only were book challenges up in 2021 but those challenges and the political climate are causing librarians to avoid purchasing certain types of books, such as books with LGBTQ+ content. (Book Riot)
- Ibram X. Kendi looks to Zora Neale Hurston for joy and determination. (The Atlantic)
- Talia Lakshmi Kolluri finds writing inspiration in the animals around us. (LitHub)
- Erika Hayasaki takes a deep dive into a story of book challenges and escalating fear in Llano, Texas, and how librarians are getting caught in the cultural crossfire. (New York Times)
- Rosalind Jana wonders if the historical conflation of disability with latent evilness is starting to change in literature. (The Guardian)
- Michele Hutchinson talks about working alongside other translators in an accidental “support group.” (LitHub)
- Madeleine Carlisle reports that librarians around the United States are worried about their funding in the face of increasing calls for censorship. (TIME)
- Gregory Barber interviews scientists and preservation experts (including Randy Silverman, who taught one of my classes in library school) who are studying the independent invention of moveable type using metal in Korea and other parts of Asia. Also, France really needs to give their copy of Jikji back to South Korea. (WIRED)
- Kate McKean discusses the creation of book titles. (Catapult)
- Rachel Scheier shows the increasing demands on public librarians to become unofficial social workers. (Salon)
- For example, this story by Gary Warth discusses how the San Diego Central Library and other local libraries have become unofficial homeless shelters during the day. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Would you like to go back to college for a bit? LitHub shares a bunch of fascinating syllabi prepared by contemporary authors.
- Nick Alfieri created a hilarious video with a friend about what English would be like if it still followed Germanic word order rules. (Boing Boing)
- …and a double hit of censorship news for this week and last. (Book Riot)
