Since 2003, Spain has seen its “average number of regular readers” climb from 47% (one of the three lowest in the EU) to 60%. During that time, writes Alasdair Fotheringham, the number of library borrowers in the various parts of the country has risen between 50 and 150%. Yet in spite of this burgeoning trend, library budgets are still at risk of further austerity cuts. Meanwhile, almost the exact same thing is happening in Florida’s Miami-Dade County.
Libraries In Trouble
Borges’ Self-Portrait
Maud Newton posts a self-portrait by Jorge Luis Borges: "When he drew this, because Burt Britton asked him to, Borges was blind."
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Six Plots
We are all by now familiar with J.K. Rowling's elaborate, hand-drawn outlines for the Harry Potter series, but what if all plots could be simplified further? Down to, let's say, graphs? And not even an infinite number of graphs, but just six? The Paris Review considers the work of Matthew Jockers, a literature professor who studies “the relationship between sentiment and plot shape in fiction.”
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Maya Angelou Has Died
Maya Angelou, poet and author of many memoirs -- most famously I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings -- has died at 86. This video of Angelou reading her poem "And Still I Rise" may serve as a good start to a celebration of her life.
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Franco Takes on the Bundrens
The first official trailer has been released for James Franco’s As I Lay Dying adaptation. The film will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
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