Category Archives: Current Affairs

Current Affairs

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Politics, Science & Health

On Books: Read Dangerously, In the Margins, Write for Your Life : NPR

Leave a comment

By Sharmila Mukherjee, May 13, 2022

Meghan Collins Sullivan/NPR

What does this perilous time of disease and destruction ask of us as readers and writers?

Three new books spotlight the power of the written word to foster creative responses to confinement and oppression — and to inspire deep change within us.

Azar Nafisi’s Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times, Elena Ferrante’s In The Margins: On The Pleasures of Reading and Writing and Anna Quindlen’s Write for Your Life are all about the transformative possibilities that underlie political, social and personal crisis.

Editor’s Note: Read more, see link below for original item…

Source: On Books: Read Dangerously, In the Margins, Write for Your Life : NPR

Arts & Humanities, Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Memories & History, Pleasures, Politics, Web & Technology

Librarians push back against book-banning | Salon.com

Leave a comment

“Book bans are about limiting kids’ freedom to read and teachers’ freedom to teach”

By Kenny Stancil, Published May 12, 2022 5:00AM (EDT)

A big selection of books in English language are on sale, for example in the ‘Fantasy and Science Fiction’ section at the ‘English Bookshop’ of culture department store Dussmann in Berlin, Germany, 25 August 2016. More and more readers choose the original versions of the books in English. (Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images)

The American Library Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and more than two dozen other organizations on Tuesday formed a coalition to fight the far-right’s record-breaking censorship barrage—wherein nearly 1,600 books were targeted for removal from public shelves and schools across the United States in 2021.

The goal of Unite Against Book Bans—which also includes the Authors Guild and prominent publishers such as Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster—is “to empower individuals and communities to fight censorship and protect the freedom to read,” according to the ALA.

“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.”

Source: Librarians push back against book-banning | Salon.com

Current Affairs, Love & Relationships, Memories & History, Pleasures, Religion & Spirit, Science & Health, Times They Are A-Changing

‘Not your parents’ retirement:’ Boomers and Gen X redefine their golden years | Yahoo! Money

Leave a comment

By Kerry Hannon, Senior Columnist, Fri, May 13, 2022, 11:08 AM
7 min read

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said they are able to realize their hopes and dreams in retirement, according to one survey of adults 45 and older. (Photo: Getty Creative)

Baby boomers and Gen X are reimagining retirement, according to a new study.

Pre-retirees and retirees view their parents’ version of retirement as having been a time for “rest and relaxation,” according to a new study “Longevity and the New Journey of Retirement” conducted by Edward Jones in partnership with Age Wave.

However, when asked about their own retirement today and in the years ahead, only 27% see today’s retirement in the same light, while 55% define it as “a new chapter in life.”

“This is definitely not their parents’ or grandparents’ retirement,” according to Ken Cella, principal, branch development at Edward Jones. “At the same time, they face new challenges, especially around their health, their finances and finding a new definition of purpose.”

The survey of more than 11,000 people was conducted online by Harris Poll in January and February 2022 and consisted of adults aged 45+ who are retired or within 10 years of retirement.

Source: ‘Not your parents’ retirement:’ Boomers and Gen X redefine their golden years

Books & Reading, Current Affairs, Libraries, Politics, Web & Technology

Book ban efforts by conservative parents take aim at library apps | NBC News

Leave a comment

Campaigns that started with criticizing school board members and librarians have turned their attention to tech companies such as OverDrive and Epic, which operated for years without drawing much controversy.

By David Ingram, May 12, 2022

Kim Hough watches as her 12-year-old son, Ethan, and her 9-year-old daughter, Emelia, browse book selections on the Epic app at their home in Melbourne, Fla., on May 6. Jacob M. Langston for NBC News

E-reader apps that became lifelines for students during the pandemic are now in the crossfire of a culture war raging over books in schools and public libraries.

In several states, apps and the companies that run them have been targeted by conservative parents who have pushed schools and public libraries to shut down their digital programs, which let users download and read books on their smartphones, tablets and laptops.

Some parents want the apps to be banned for their children or even for all students. And they’re getting results.

A school superintendent in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, pulled his system’s e-reader offline for a week last month, cutting access for 40,000 students, after a parent searched the Epic library available on her kindergartner’s laptop and found books supporting LGBTQ pride.

Source: Book ban efforts by conservative parents take aim at library apps