| International Literacy Day In an age of enlightenment, technology and modern living, it's amazing that it has been estimated that nearly 800 million adults worldwide lack even the most basic literacy skills. In this modern world, the ability for people to read and write has been directly connected to reduced poverty, improved socio-economic status, reduced population growth, minimized child and maternal mortality rates, and balancing out gender and equality on a sustainable level. Because of this, many countries and governments all over the world believe that the increase of literacy rates in children will have a direct impact on the future welfare of them and their families. In 1966, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed this day as International Literacy Day, sometimes called World Literacy Day. The intention was to remind people all over the world that the ability to read and write should not be taken for granted. An effort has been made for literacy rates to be increased. Even though this particular effort toward literacy began more than 50 years ago, it is still a relevant issue today. Celebrate literacy and check out these new September titles |
|
| Books on the Air An overview of talked-about books and authors. This weekly update, published every Friday, provides descriptions of recent TV and radio appearances by authors and their recently released books. See the hot titles from the media this week. |
|
| Thrity Umrigar Thrity Umrigar is a Distinguished University Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Thrity was born in Bombay, India and came to the U.S. when she was 21. As a Parsi child attending a Catholic school in a predominantly Hindu country, she had the kind of schizophrenic and cosmopolitan childhood that has served her well in her life as a writer. Accused by teachers and parents alike of being a daydreaming, head-in-the-clouds child, she grew up lost in the fictional worlds created by Steinbeck, Hemingway, Woolf and Faulkner. Encouraged by her practical-minded parents to get an undergraduate degree in business, Thrity survived business school by creating a drama club and writing, directing and acting in plays. Her first short stories, essays and poems were published in national magazines and newspapers in India at age fifteen. After earning a M.A. in journalism in the U.S., Thrity worked for several years as an award-winning reporter, columnist and magazine writer. She also earned a Ph.D. in English. Check out her books here. |
|
| Library Reads Library Reads-The top ten books published this month that library staff across the country love, with additional hall of fame authors. Check them out here |
|
| Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you'll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.-Stephen King
|
|
|
|
