ABFE launches banned books week 2024 campaign
(Jul 25 2024)
American Booksellers for Free Expression has launched
a campaign for Banned Books Week 2024 centered on the theme Liberate Banned Books (#SetBooksFree).
"Resisting book bans is about liberation," ABFE noted. "It's about liberation for schools and libraries from the rash of book challenges that has exploded since 2021.
PRH unveils new global corporate logo
(Jul 24 2024)
Penguin Random House has unveiled its new global corporate logo, which combines the PRH wordmark with the Penguin icon.
The iconic penguin will be incorporated into PRH's corporate business service logos, such as for its library marketing, specialty retail, education, and speakers bureau services, as well as its social media accounts. The icon is now the profile picture on PRH's official Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts.
More than a third of UK adults have given up reading for pleasure, study finds
(Jul 24 2024)
Half of adults in the UK do not regularly read for pleasure, according to new survey data.
The study, commissioned by the charity the Reading Agency, saw 15% of adults reporting that they have never been regular readers, and 35% saying that they are lapsed readers, meaning that they used to read regularly for pleasure, but rarely or never do now.
Inside the two-year fight to bring charges against school librarians in Granbury, Texas
(Jul 23 2024)
The law enforcement officer spent months methodically gathering evidence. He leafed through thousands of pages and highlighted key passages amid reams and reams of paper. He wore his body camera to record his interactions with witnesses and suspects. And he photographed what he saw as instruments of the alleged crime: Books.
The targets of the investigation? Three school librarians in Granbury, Texas. The allegation? They had allowed children to access literature — such as “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison — that the officer, Scott London, a chief deputy constable, had deemed obscene.
Hugo awards organizers reveal thousands spent on fraudulent votes to help one writer win
(Jul 23 2024)
The prestigious
Hugo awards for science fiction and fantasy writing has revealed that almost 400 votes – about 10% of all votes cast in this year’s awards – were fraudulently paid for to help one finalist win.
The Hugo administration subcommittee, which tallies the votes for the annual awards,
issued a statement on Monday saying that they had determined that 377 votes had been cast by individuals with “obvious fake names and/or other disqualifying characteristics”.
