Selfie-takers in museums epitomise ‘possessive modes of looking’ that are a symptom of a history of art rooted in the conflict between how the art system (museum, art market) ‘alienates’ the work of art, against art’s ‘constituent alterity’, its ‘infinite capacity… to generate experience over time’ – or, in other words, its freedom. - ArtReview
Today’s libraries are a direct legacy of the Roman impulse to transcend practicality and invest arenas of knowledge with a sense of scale akin to that of churches – temples to a different creed – with their imposing porticoes and columns, their elaborate ornaments and staircases, their rows of desks and lofty shelves. - Psyche
In the fight over the Internet Archive, "it’s rarely this nasty, but free vs. expensive is a struggle that plays out continuously against all forms of media and entertainment. Neither side has the upper hand forever. "- The New York Times
The state of Florida under Ron DeSantis certainly has come to resemble a parody of itself, and, well: "Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare's plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides." - NPR
At first, the behemoth company told author Jane Friedman that since she hadn't trademarked her name, there was nothing they could do. "It looks terrible. It makes me look like I’m trying to take advantage of people with really crappy books," Friedman said. - The Guardian (UK)
Maybe! "Best-seller lists don’t fully convey the adoration that Red, White & Royal Blue has garnered on BookTok, ... where fans have shared their obsession with the escapist love story en masse, and videos tagged #redwhiteandroyalblue have received more than 500 million views." - The New York Times
"A nonprofit startup called Archivi.ng is attempting to digitise every edition of every newspaper – 50 in all – published in Nigeria since 1 January 1960, the year of independence from Britain. The archive will launch its first tranche of documents in September." - The Guardian
"The niche world of hockey romance novels is getting mainstream attention after the wife of an N.H.L. player criticized book fans who she said had made comments and videos on social media about her husband that were 'predatory and exploiting.'" - The New York Times
"Reginald Dwayne Betts is the founder of Freedom Reads, a nonprofit with a mission to 'transform access to literature in prisons' by opening handcrafted micro-libraries in as many carceral facilities as possible. … With its 13-person team, it aim to open upwards of 1,000 libraries in the next three years." - Fast Company
"The green front door leads straight into Kevin Duffy's living room, the nerve centre of Bluemoose books, his independent literary hit factory. It is at a cluttered table in the corner that Duffy has built a business with a success rate that billion-pound publishers regard with envy." - The Guardian
Despite all the claims made for it, the literary canon does not make you morally better, nor does it provide any special insight into non-literary academic fields, nor is it of any help in most practical matters. - 3 Quarks Daily
When confronted with claims that term X causes harm to people with a given characteristic, or that term Y is the only way to describe them respectfully, a fair-minded person can reasonably respond, “What evidence suggests that this is true?” - The Atlantic
In Dayton, WA, about halfway between Seattle and Boise, when the public library's board refused a demand to remove or sequester a list of books that's now grown past 100 titles, right-wing activists began working on a ballot measure to dissolve the public library system. - The Nation
"In a move that some in the industry will welcome as putting at least a temporary stop to industry consolidation, the private investment firm KKR has reached an agreement with Paramount Global to acquire Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion in an all-cash transaction." - Publishers Weekly
