7 surprises about libraries in our surveys: Pew Research Center

7 surprises about libraries in our surveys

Fact Tank-Pew Research Center: 6.30.2014 by Lee Rainie

The Pew Research Center’s studies about libraries and where they fit in the lives of their communities and patrons have uncovered some surprising facts about what Americans think of libraries and the way they use them. As librarians around the world are gathered in Las Vegas for the American Library Association’s annual conference, here are findings that stand out from our research, our typology of public library engagement and the quiz we just released that people can take to see where they compare with our national survey findings: What kind of library user are you?

1 Each time we ask about library use, we find that those ages 65 and older are less likely to have visited a library in the past 12 months than those under that age. Equally as interesting is the fact that younger Americans (those ages 16-29) are just as likely to be library users as those who are older.

2 Although 10% of Americans have never used a library, they think libraries are good for their communities. We’ve identified this group of library users as “Distant Admirers,” and they are the majority of the nearly 15% of Americans ages 16 and older who have never been to a library.

 -40% of Distant Admirers report that someone else in their household is a library user.

 -2/3s of them or more say libraries are important because they promote literacy and reading

 -55% say the loss of the local library would be a blow to the community.

3 E-book reading is rising but just 4% of Americans are “e-book only” readers.

4 Those who read both e-books and printed books prefer reading in the different formats under different circumstances.

5 One of the big concerns in the publishing industry about selling e-books to libraries is that allowing free access to e-books through libraries might eat into book sales. In fact, Pew Research data show that those who use libraries are more likely than others to be book buyers and actually prefer to buy books, rather than borrow them.

6 One of the foundational principles of librarians is supporting the privacy of patrons. . . . . .many patrons are comfortable with the idea of getting recommendations from librarians based on their previous book-reading habits.

7 Many librarians are struggling to figure out how to think about their book collections in the digital age.  READ MORE !

Literacy – Spanning the US: Illinois :: Montgomery Co, MD :: Washington DC

Literacy:  Spanning the U.S.

Literacy Volunteers student honored for her efforts

North Aurora resident receives Spotlight on Achievement award

My Suburban Life: 6.10.2014 by Eric Schelkopf

When Thu Tran said that when she arrived in North Aurora in 2009 from Vietnam, she didn't even know enough English to order lunch at a Subway restaurant.

But thanks to Literacy Volunteers Fox Valley, she said her English is getting better and better. The St. Charles nonprofit organization provides free, one-to-one literacy tutoring to adults.

In recognition of her efforts, Tran, 35, was one of 10 students statewide who recently received a 2014 Spotlight on Achievement award. The award was presented by Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White, along with Dennis DeRossett, executive director of the Illinois Press Association.

"I was very honored to meet them," Tran said. "I'm very appreciative of the honor."

Literacy Volunteers tutor Mary Sterner of St. Charles, who has been working with Tran for the last couple of months, also said she was proud of Tran's success. Tran's tutoring sessions have been held at Batavia Public Library and Messenger Public Library in North Aurora.  READ MORE !

Literacy at the Library: Montgomery County Literacy Council Helps New Immigrants Improve Language Skills

Asian Fortune News: 6.26.2014 by Jenny Chen

It’s Saturday morning and Quince Orchard Library is bustling. Kids dressed in their karate uniforms are running around, stopping occasionally to look at the pictures in Flora and Ulysses or tapping out a game at the computer section. High school students are studying for SATs in between catching up and going for iced coffee runs at the nearby Dunkin’ Donuts.

But nestled amid all this activity are pairs of adults, talking quietly at the rows of tables next to the cooking and home improvement section and flipping through the reference section dictionaries. Saturday is a popular day for Literacy Council tutor and tutees to meet, and Quince Orchard Library is a popular spot.

The Literacy Council tutoring program has been around for 51 years. It gives adults free one-on-one English instruction, pairing adult students up with adult literacy volunteers who have been trained in the Literacy Council’s programs. The need is great — the current average wait-list time for the tutoring program is three to six months.  READ MORE !

Congressional Baseball Game Helps D.C. Adults Get Second Chance at Washington Literacy Center

Roll Call: 6.20.2014 by Bridget Bowman

Latisha Powell pointed to a paper pinned to the bulletin board on the bright blue wall and said, “When I came here, I couldn’t write that essay.”

Powell, 46, was once one of the thousands of adults in the District who do not have basic reading skills.

But after several months at the Washington Literacy Center, Powell was able to write that essay, about mothers, which began: “Don’t be ashamed.”

Shaking off the shame that comes with being functionally illiterate is a common experience for the 100 adults the WLC serves each year. Most of them do not have a high school diploma, but have completed 10 to 12 years of education.

Donna Snowden, 50, said she used to be embarrassed that she could not read, but she no longer felt alone after she came to the WLC. “I said, ‘Whoa, all of them can’t read either?’ I’m not ashamed no more. That’s what helped me back.”

That sense of camaraderie flows through the classrooms at the WLC, located in the Thurgood Marshall Center just off U Street in Northwest D.C.

The WLC was able to relocate to the center two years ago with help from funds raised by the Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game. Last year, the funds helped the WLC purchase the Wilson Reading System, a teaching technique that breaks down words.  READ MORE !

Read to Your Baby, Say Doctors — But Which Books?

Read to Your Baby, Say Doctors — But Which Books?

Time: 6.24.2014 by Lily Rothman

When her son was very small, Dr. Pamela High noticed something funny: she would come home and find the babysitter in the rocking chair with the boy, reading out loud from whatever book she happened to be working on herself at that moment. As her son got older and began to respond more to the words themselves, the babysitter switched to reading children’s books — but the image made an impression on his mother.

Now her son is grown up and High is the lead author of a new policy paper released by the American Academy of Pediatrics that recommends pediatricians advise parents to read aloud to young children “beginning in infancy,” to encourage word learning, literacy and positive family relationships. The report notes that reading to children is correlated with family income level — and, as the New York Times reports, Scholastic is donating 500,000 books to the literacy advocacy group Reach Out and Read, which works with pediatricians to get books to low-income families — but even in families that make 400% of the poverty threshold only 60% of children are read to daily.

But what exactly should they be reading? If your one-day-old baby doesn’t understand the words, does it even matter?

“I don’t think that there’s a huge amount of information on that,” High tells TIME, noting that her own experience with the sitter reading to her son is just an anecdote, not research. “The research is primarily about reading children’s books.”  READ MORE !

Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice

From the American Academy of Pediatrics

Policy Statement

Council on Early Childhood

Pediatrics Group Wants Parents to Read to Their Children Every Day

Pediatrics Group Wants Parents to Read to Their Children Every Day

USNWR-Health Day: 6.24.2014

All pediatricians should encourage parents to read out loud to their children every day, beginning in infancy, to promote literacy and strengthen family ties.

That clarion call comes in a new policy statement issued Tuesday by the American Academy of Pediatrics' Council on Early Childhood.

The aim of the recommendation is to help parents "immunize their children against illiteracy," said statement author Dr. Pamela High, director of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, R.I., and a professor at Brown University.

In fact, literacy promotion should be part of residency training for any medical student entering pediatrics, the policy statement added.

"This is the first time the AAP has called out literacy promotion as being an essential component of primary care pediatric practice," High said. "Fewer than half of children are being read to every day by their families, and that number hasn't really changed since 2003. It's a public health message to parents of all income groups, that this early shared reading is both fun and rewarding."

The stakes are high. Every year, more than one of every three American children start kindergarten without the language skills they need to learn to read, a disadvantage from which it is hard to recover, High noted.

Reading proficiency by the third grade turns out to be the most important predictor of whether children will graduate high school and be successful in their careers, she said. About two-thirds of children in the United States and about 80 percent of those below the poverty threshold fail to develop reading proficiency by the end of the third grade.  READ MORE !

Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice

From the American Academy of Pediatrics

Policy Statement

Council on Early Childhood

Literacy crisis: Pediatricians enlist to prod parents to read to kids

Family Literacy
Huntington Beach Library

Literacy crisis: Pediatricians enlist to prod parents to read to kids

The Clinton Foundation's Too Small to Fail is joining forces with pediatricians and others in a literacy push aimed at low-income families: prescribed reading.

Christian Science Monitor: 6.24.2014 by Amanda Paulson

Many parents may know it’s good to read to their babies and young children, but far too few do it regularly, say early-childhood development activists.

A new collaboration between several groups – including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which on Tuesday released its first-ever policy paper on early literacy – is trying to disseminate more information about the importance of reading out loud, as well as about the tools to do so.

“Only about half of parents of young children are actually reading to their children from the earliest days of their children’s lives,” says Ann O’Leary, director of Too Small to Fail, an early-childhood initiative of the Clinton Foundation and Next Generation. “It would be shocking if you said only half of parents are feeding their children, or putting them to sleep, but we know that [reading and singing to children] are just as important. They’re critical to brain development and language development and have a lifelong impact on health.”

On Tuesday morning, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is set to announce the new collaboration – between Too Small to Fail, the AAP, Scholastic Inc., and Reach Out and Read – at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in Denver.

The initiative is aimed particularly at low-income families, who are the least likely to read regularly to children or to have access to books, and seeks to reach families largely through pediatricians. READ MORE !

Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice

From the American Academy of Pediatrics

Policy Statement

Council on Early Childhood

Literacy – Spanning the US: Rancho Cucamonga CA - StoryCorps Medal Winner

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.

IMLS and StoryCorps

2013 Medal Winners - Listen Online

StoryCorps is making their visits to the 2013 medal-winning institutions in early 2014. Check back to hear additional stories as they are made available.

Rancho Cucamonga Public Library

"You become an expert on deception..."

Jerry Piazza (L), a 64-year-old student in the adult literacy program at the Rancho Cucamonga Public Library, talks to Allen Callaci (R), the literacy librarian, about navigating life without the ability to read. They talk about his decision to go to tutoring and publicly reveal his struggle.

Length: 2:28. Read transcript (PDF)

StoryCorps’ mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, preserve, and share their stories. StoryCorps is currently one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in the country. Each week, millions of Americans listen to StoryCorps’ award-winning broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition. Fifty of StoryCorps’ most emblematic stories have been collected in the New York Times bestseller, Listening Is an Act of Love (Penguin Press). A follow-up book, Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps (Penguin Press), published in Spring 2010, features inspiring stories by and about mothers.

Upcoming Mobile Tour Dates & Stops

Marquette, MI ● July 5 to August 2, 2014

Reservations Open: June 19, 2014 & July 8, 2014

Radio Partner: Public Radio 90, WNMU-FM

Peter White Public Library, 217 North Front Street Marquette, Michigan 49855

Grand Rapids, MI ● August 8 to September 5, 2014

Reservations Open: July 25, 2014 & August 8, 2014

Radio Partner: WGVU Public Media

St. Louis, MO ● September 11 to October 10, 2014

Reservations Open: August 28, 2014 & September 12, 2014

Radio Partner: St. Louis Public Radio KWMU

Tulsa, OK ● October 16 to November 15, 2014

Reservations Open: October 2, 2014 & October 17, 2014

Radio Partner: Public Radio Tulsa KWGS

Dallas, TX ● November 20 to December 20, 2014

Reservations Open: November 6, 2014 & November 21, 2014

Radio Partner: KERA Public Media for North Texas

Recording Locations

StoryCorps Atlanta

the Atlanta History Center and Public Broadcasting Atlanta: Visit StoryCorps in Atlanta.

StoryCorps Chicago

the Chicago Cultural Center and WBEZ 91.5: Visit StoryCorps in Chicago.

StoryCorps San Francisco

the San Francisco Public Library, Airbnb, KALW and KQED: Visit StoryCorps in San Francisco.

Kansas city shuts down boy's 'little free library'

Little Free Library

Kansas city shuts down boy's 'little free library'

Today News: 6.20.2014 by Eun Kyung Kim

Good fences may make good neighbors, but little free libraries in the front yard may illicit complaints from them.

A 9-year-old Kansas boy was forced to remove a small community bookshelf from his front yard after local officials threatened to issue his family a citation because of their illegal "detached structure."

"They were going to charge us $25 a day, so we took it down," the boy's father, Brian Collins, told TODAY.

He and his wife helped their son, Spencer, put up the bookshelf on Mother's Day hoping to "encourage literacy, reading and community."

The little library, which was made by the boy's grandfather, was as big as an oversized birdhouse and had “take a book, leave a book” instructions taped to the front door. The bookshelf sat next to a park bench intended to provide a spot for readers to enjoy their books.  READ MORE !

75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights

75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights

ALA News: 6.17.2014

Seventy-five years ago at the 1939 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, the ALA Council adopted the Library’s Bill of Rights, echoing the spirit of a document from the Des Moines Public Library in 1938. This document, refreshed in 1944, 1948, 1961, 1967, 1980 and 1996, remains the library profession’s major policy document on intellectual freedom.

All those revisions prove that the Library Bill of Rights is truly a “living document.” In fact, LBOR now has 21 Interpretations.  ALA has recognized that it is a document of ideals, but also of practice—which is why interpretations have been crafted to deal with such specific issues as Privacy, Children and Services to the Disabled.

ALA President Barbara Stripling is “pleased to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights and to recognize the enduring impact of libraries on the democratic vitality of our nation.  LBOR serves as a foundational documents for libraries of all types, affirming the right of all members of our communities to have equitable and uncensored access to information and ideas.”

Stripling’s presidential year has included the Declaration for the Right to Libraries, which affirms the principles in LBOR which “empower individuals, strengthen families, build communities, and strengthen our nation.”

All these documents can be found in the Intellectual Freedom Manual, which will soon have its ninth edition!

The Intellectual Freedom Committee, the Committee on Professional Ethics and the Intellectual Freedom Round Table urge libraries to celebrate.  The Office for Intellectual Freedom can provide ideas for you.  Stay tuned for further activities at the Las Vegas Annual Conference!

17 Percent of Parents Believe Reading is Top Priority During the Summer

New Survey: Only 17 Percent of Parents Believe Reading is Top Priority During the Summer; Kids Spend Nearly Triple the Time Playing Video Games or Watching TV

Reading Is Fundamental Press Release: 6.18.2014

Macy’s and Reading Is Fundamental Launch Be Book Smart Campaign June 18 to Support Children’s Literacy

WASHINGTON – (June 18, 2014) – Despite research that indicates the importance of summer reading in preventing children from losing literacy skills, only 17 percent of parents say reading is a top summer priority, according to a new survey from Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) and Macy’s. The survey, conducted by Harris Poll, also finds that children spend nearly three times as many hours weekly watching TV or playing video games as they do reading in the summer. More than 1,000 parents with children ages 5-11 completed the survey online in April.

Results of the survey are made public as Macy’s and RIF launch the 11th annual Be Book Smart campaign to support children’s literacy. Be Book Smart begins June 18, and invites customers nationwide to give $3 at any Macy’s register in-store, to help provide a book for a child and get $10 off a purchase of $30 or more. Macy’s will donate 100 percent of every $3 to RIF. The campaign ends July 13.

“Many families think of reading as eating your vegetables—good for you but not necessarily a treat. Reading is the best vacation. It takes you places you never dreamed you would visit, and summer especially is a time when kids can immerse themselves in the topics they like best,” said Carol H. Rasco, CEO of Reading Is Fundamental. “Thanks to our partnership with Macy’s, we are bringing more books to children who need them most and starting them on a journey to a lifelong love of reading.”

More than 60 percent of parents in the survey said they do not believe their child loses reading skills over the summer. However, existing research shows that summer learning loss is a major problem, particularly for low-income children who can lose up to three months of reading skills because of limited access to books and learning opportunities while out of school. The key to helping children maintain and even improve their literacy skills over the summer is providing access to quality books that they can choose based on personal interests.

Full survey results are highlighted in an executive summary by Harris Poll. Key findings include:

• On average, parents say their child spends 17.4 hours/week watching TV or playing video games, 16.7 hours/week playing outside and only 5.9 hours/week reading.

• Parents who consider reading to be extremely or very important are twice as likely to have a child who reads every day.

• Children who were involved in a reading program last summer were up to two times more likely to read every day. Yet, over half of parents said their child did not participate in a reading program at all last summer.

• Last summer, children who read because they wanted to were twice as likely to read than children who read because they had to.

• Despite the proliferation of e-books and digital formats, 83 percent of parents said their child preferred print books for summer reading, compared to 7 percent preferring tablets and 4 percent preferring e-readers.

READ MORE !

Dismantling Canada's only English-language national adult literacy library

Dismantling Canada's only English-language national adult literacy library

As a result of the end of federal core funding, The Centre is dismantling its library, once the largest English-language adult literacy collection in Canada, and the only one providing service across the country.

Many parts of the collection are being relocated. We have sent our Easy-to-Read materials to the Fraser Hickson library, and our ESL teaching and learning materials to the Eleanor London Côte Saint-Luc Public Library, while Our Learning Disabilities collection has gone to the Montreal Centre for Learning Disabilities. Teaching and learning materials in the areas of adult and family literacy, numeracy, aboriginal literacy, women's education, and workplace literacy and training are going to the Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et lacondition féminine (CDÉACF). We will make announcements as these materials become available.

The Centre is keeping its research and policy documents related to adult literacy. We will make an announcement when we are able to make these documents publicly available again.

Literacy – Spanning the US: Philadelphia PA :: Ruidoso NM :: Greensboro NC

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.

Jose Garces, Marc Vetri use cooking as path to literacy [Video]

Philadelphia Business Journal: 6.02.2014 by Francis Hilario

More than half of the adult population in Philadelphia – 550,000 individuals – are considered low literate. And, in an effort to tackle this prolonging issue, the Free Library of Philadelphia has partnered with some pretty big names in the Philly food game to launch its new center highlighting the marriage between cooking and literacy.

Alongside Chefs Jose Garces and Marc Vetri, the library debuted its new Culinary Literacy Center on Monday offering classes for children, teens, families and adults ranging from ESL classes for restaurant workers and nutritional and healthy lifestyle food preparations to demonstrations and workshops with regional and national chefs.

“The beauty of culinary literacy is that it’s basic literacy skills – math and science – and you get to make something. That tactile part of when you’re learning something is so important,” said Siobhan Reardon, president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia. “For us, the role of the library is about the grand experiment of bringing people to literacy, and that’s what we’re doing here.”  READ MORE !

Adult literacy program helped public official advance

Village Councilor Rifle Salas says seek help

Ruidoso News: 6.03.2014 by Kelly Brooks

When Raphael "Rifle" Salas started working for the Ruidoso Parks and Recreation Department as a laborer in 1983, he had difficulty reading. He'd struggled with reading and grammar in high school but still had managed to graduate. It wasn't until he tried to read the instructions and cautions on chemicals and fertilizers in his job that he realized how much of a problem it really was.

"Being a young 20 year old, it was more of the embarrassment for me at the time," Salas said. "I knew I was struggling. I did know how to read but it was the phonics and comprehension parts that I was struggling to get through. I was one of those kids who had fallen through the cracks and just squeaked by. I graduated high school with a junior high reading and grammar level."

Too embarrassed to ask coworkers for help, it wasn't until he was working the park grounds near the old library location — the current location of the Ruidoso Community Center — that Salas found a possible solution.

"I saw a poster at the library about helping to learn to read," Salas said. "The librarian directed me to the program and a gentleman worked with me for about three months."

When Salas' boss found out that he was being tutored, he made accommodations for Salas to leave 30 minutes early each day for his tutoring sessions.  READ MORE !

Reading Connections Helps Adults Reach Potential

Coastalnc.twcnews: 6.03.2014 by Cheryn Stone

A Triad man spends his time helping others in his community achieve more. He volunteers with Reading Connections, helping students tap into their potential. Last year the nonprofit worked with more than 1,000 people in Guilford County on their literacy skills.

“The truth is they are wonderful people in and of themselves and all I'm really doing is helping claim a part of their lives that they never got fully functioning yet,” said Reading Connections volunteer, John Syster. This year John started tutoring for reading connections, a nonprofit that trains tutors to help adults improve their literacy skills.

“You can help someone open up doors that they never thought would be open to them. When you think about lessons in literacy you may assume they mean reading, but this program offers much more,” said program manager, Roberta Hawthorne. “We know that when you are learning as an adult it is different than learning something when you are a child so we use different strategies to help adults see how these literacy skills are relevant to their lives”.

Many of the students are working toward a GED. Some adults are working to improve reading, conversation, or basic computer skills to find work. Others want to be better parents, more able help their children with their homework.  READ MORE !

US demonstrators demand government aid for adult literacy

US demonstrators demand government aid for adult literacy  [ VIDEO ]

Press TV: 6.11.2014

The right to education and literacy-That was the main message of those who gathered in front of Manhattan's city Hall on Tuesday.

Participant are calling on the government to shift focus on Adult Literacy and help create an educated workforce, where immigrants and minorities have the same opportunity as others to find a well paying job. Of the over 12.2 million working-age adults in New York, 1.7 million have not completed high school (or equivalent). This equates to one out of seven adults having below-basic literacy skills, with the marginalized immigrant population making up the bulk of those numbers.  READ MORE!

Jeff Bridges Talks Libraries

Newsmaker: Jeff Bridges

American Libraries: 6.06.2014 by Phil Morehart

Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges returns to the big screen this summer in The Giver, an adaptation of Lois Lowry’s classic dystopian young adult novel. He spoke with American Libraries about turning the book into a film, its themes, and the future of libraries. Bridges and Lowry will appear at Barbara Stripling's President’s Program at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas on Sunday, June 29.

You’ve been working on adapting The Giver into a movie for almost two decades. Why do you think this book has such potential as a film?

Well, I was looking for a project to do with my father, Lloyd Bridges, and I wanted to make a children’s movie. So I started to look through some children’s books in a catalog and I saw the picture of this old grizzled guy on the cover and thought, “My dad could play that part. And it’s got the Newbery Award stamp on it, so I should check that out.” I got the book, expecting to read a children’s story, and it certainly was that, but so much more. I enjoyed it on an adult level and found it so poetic. Somewhere in my garage I have a video of my father playing the title role, and I got my nephew to play Jonas, and we shot the whole book. So that was the beginning of it: a project for my father.

How can libraries help impart the themes in The Giver, such as the importance of passing information from one generation to the next?

It’s interesting that you ask that question. What comes to my mind is how long are we going to have libraries? Will they go the way of the record store? It's sort of the theme of The Giver. Maybe it’s just a part of humanity that we’re so hooked on comfort and needing gratification and speed that we miss some of the finer things in life. I remember visiting Larry McMurtry’s wonderful bookstore [in Archer City, Texas] and just wandering aisles with all these amazing books. I think it’s wonderful to get support for libraries and encourage kids to take part in that. I hope they stick around.  READ MORE !

ALA: 1st Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity

ALA announces winner of the first-ever Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity

ALA News: 6.09.2024 by Macey Morales

Laurence Copel, youth outreach librarian and founder of the Lower Ninth Ward Street Library, New Orleans, is the first recipient of the Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity. Daniel Handler, also known as Lemony Snicket, will present Copel with the prize on June 29 during the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas. Copel will receive a cash prize along with an odd, symbolic object from Handler’s private collection.

“Copel is recognized for her extraordinary efforts to provide books to young readers of the Ninth Ward,” said ALA President Barbara Stripling. “Copel is a brilliant example of how librarians can serve as change agents. Her leadership and commitment show the vital role that librarians and libraries play in energizing and engaging the communities that they serve.”

Copel who moved from New York City to New Orleans in 2010 saw a need to provide age appropriate books to neighborhood youths.  Known to the children in the Lower Ninth Ward as the “Book Lady,” Copel opened a library in her home through self-funding and small donations while living on $350 a week.  She also converted her bicycle to a mobile book carrier allowing her to reach children and families that could not travel to her home.

In her efforts to serve her young readers she has had to overcome much adversity, including a burglary and significant weather damage to her home that destroyed many of the books she planned to give to children, limited financial resources and empty promises of assistance from local politicians. Despite local challenges, Copel has provided more than 7,000 books to children in need.  READ MORE !

The Drinkable Book

The Drinkable Book: Clean water for the masses

Book Patrol: 5.27.2014 by Michael Lieberman

Water is Life VIDEO

Books and water are usually not so good a mix but The Drinkable Book is a game-changer. Created by DDB for Water Is Life The Drinkable Book is a complete water purification device in which each page is printed with warnings and tips while being smothered in bacteria-killing silver nanoparticles.

Tear out a page, place it in the 3D printed slipcase, pour the dirty water over it and there you go – drinkable water!  READ MORE !