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Gavin Downing, librarian at Cedar Heights, chose to expand the library’s LGBTQ+ resources over the course of the school year, in alignments with the district’s policy on supplemental material. Policy 2020P notes that supplemental materials are selected based on a number of factors, including that they “provide non-stereotypical presentation of diverse racial, ethnic, gender and ability groups.” Items purchased for the library must align with this policy, as well as withstand the standards of decency in their depictions of sex and obscenities, guided by professional reviews....

This poetry collection from acclaimed novelist Farzana Doctor is both an intimate deep dive and a humorous glance at the tumultuous decade of her forties. Through crisp and vivid language, Doctor explores mid-life breakups and dating, perimenopause, imprints of racism and misogyny, and the oddness of sex and love, and urges us to take a second look at the ways in which human relationships are never what we expect them to be....

Despite how much everyone involved was shaken by this, the library is not allowing it to stop them from their commitment to representing the diversity of their community. They have started a new event series called “Every Month is Pride Month,” which will run for the entire year. Dave Brown, part of the Board of Supervisors, explained this project will “prove that Alameda County will always be a community based on love and acceptance, and that our residents are always ready to stand against all forms of hate and intolerance....

When Anne Ferguson was working with the Vermont Department of Health, she created The StoryWalk® Project as a way to convince families to get outside and be active while engaging with literacy. She was on the hunt to create something that required the adults to be active alongside children, with no financial limitations that would leave some families out. StoryWalk was born. Where do you put a StoryWalk? The original goal for The StoryWalk Project was to have stories placed outside in nature....

The basement is finished. Like, with carpet. So I’m in search of style. It’s not my strong suit. But I have help. In surveying the living room’s multiplicity of Ikea sectionals from the “As Is” clearance section of our local, I don’t ask myself, What Would Frank Lloyd Wright Do? I ask myself, “What Would Christopher Alexander Do?” He the 80-something activist architect, professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, creator and defender of humane spaces, author of the seminal 1977 work on New Urbanism, A Pattern Language....

Bookstores I’d be a fool to try and list all of Salem’s booksellers. Nearly every witch store, gift shop, and tourist trap sells serious titles about paganism as well as more sensational literature about ghost stories, witch trials, love spells, pirates, local history, and haunted goings-on. You’ll see a lot of repeat titles – Salem may be the only place in the world where you can run to one of five different places for a new copy of To Ride A Silver Broomstick....

An all-expenses-paid writer’s retreat, which will be held at the beginning of 2022 A three-month mentorship with a published author Marketing support from Reese’s Book Club This is a fantastic opportunity for new writers! To qualify, writers must identify as a woman from a diverse background and be unagented and unpublished. Writers are considered published if they have any book published, including self-published books. Published essays, short stories, poems, etc., do not make an applicant ineligible....

“For those who are unfamiliar, these online events are a great way to get into poetry and connect more deeply with the community. So much discovery happens at these events, and many of your favorite poets have gotten their start on the slam stage. These stages have historically been spaces for healing and care, which is something we need so much right now. Here’s a list of events, readings, and livestreams to get your poetry fix throughout the rest of the pandemic....

“From smuggling love letters in bras and the sexiest bedroom poses, to concealing stretch marks and saggy breasts. In a manner more fitting to Cosmopolitan magazine than a highbrow Latin poet, he lasciviously teases his readers on how to create the perfect candlelit love den.” I didn’t say it was good advice. “What made me really upset was when the publisher said, ‘We had to cancel the book tour because of safety concerns,’ which made my community look like we’re crazy people going to cause trouble....

Weddings are a fun feature in romance novels, because they can offer up so many different situations to throw romance protagonists into. My cousin is having a wedding? I need a date. My cousin is having a wedding? I need a fake date. My cousin is getting married to the man I’ve loved for years? I need to go on an epic road trip with the person I hate the most to break them up....

But Macmillan is doing nothing new. They are simply following the lead taken by Penguin Random House and Hachette Book Group, who also recently announced that they have eliminated perpetual access for libraries and replaced it with a two-year access model. Simon & Schuster changed from a one-year to two-year access model. But what makes Macmillan’s decision so interesting, and quite perplexing, is the eight-week embargo they have implemented on library ebooks....

My name is Bertha or Catherine or maybe I don’t have a name and am instead a shadowy specter-threat lurking in a room above your head or a room with hideous wallpaper that would rob anyone of sanity. My goal today is to reclaim this space as my own. See, most probably I am here against my will but for your good, but you have told yourself that no, it’s for my own good....

The EveryLibrary Institute is a national 501c3 non-profit with a mission to support libraries and librarians in the United States and abroad. The Institute commissioned Embold Research to survey 1,223 registered voters nationally from August 31 to September 3, 2022. The poll was commissioned to understand political support and opposition to book banning and to understand the impact of these bans on public support for libraries. The complete report Voter Perceptions of Book Bans and Censorship is available online....

March holds a special event for all astrology lovers: Spring Equinox! Sunday, March 20, is the day when the Northern Hemisphere is evenly split between daylight and darkness. This is a time of great balance, when all aspects of your life work in harmony. It’s also the astrological new year, when the sun enters Aries, marking the beginning of a new cycle through the twelve signs of the zodiac. With the fiery, passionate energy of Aries, Spring Equinox is the perfect time to embark on a new goal, start a relationship, or make a big change in your life — a spring cleaning of the soul, if you will....

Reader, I read them. (It’s a story for another day, but reading The Haunting of Hill House in a haunted apartment building was perhaps my least smart move of all time.) Then I walked up the street to the used bookstore and bought everything else I could find with Shirley’s name on the spine. At that time, several of her books were out of print, and used was the only way to get them; one book I never found for sale at all, reading about half of a library copy before I had to return it and finishing it 20 years later when Penguin Classics reprinted it....

Below, I’ve rounded up some great wedding planning books that buck the usual traditions, as well as some romance novels about weddings — because they are abundant and so very fun. I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, almost all the modern wedding planning books I could find were written by and for Christian-adjacent white women. While the books listed do include stories and advice for a variety of weddings, there are not many dedicated specifically to weddings for different races or religions....

The day after each episode of Game of Thrones airs, I have made myself a tiny tradition of reading the summary and then watching SNL’s Leslie Jones’s commentary of each episode on Instagram. Yes, I don’t get to enjoy the beautiful film quality or see the fantastic costumes with as much clarity as I would like. I also know there are big gaping holes in the plot and dialogue that I miss, but for me, this is the safest way to watch....

The trailer promises an adorable and awkward love story between the two, with Netflix describing it as “chock-full of bedroom dancing, awkward flirting, rugby shenanigans and a whole lot of yearning.” The series drops on Netflix April 18th. The graphic novel series is still ongoing, with the fifth and final volume scheduled to come out some time this year. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books....

Over the years, I’ve added dozens of bookish podcasts to my feed. Some perennial favourites stick around, like What Should I Read Next, and over the last few years I’ve really enjoyed Currently Reading, Reading Glasses, and the Book Club Review. But it’s always fun to discover new ones, with different perspectives on books and the reading life. And there are a lot of new ones these days, no doubt partly inspired by the time we’ve all been spending at home, missing our in-person meetings with fellow bookworms and looking for new ways to connect....

Among the Right to Read Act provisions: Up to $500 million in Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grants An increase in the Innovative Approaches to Literacy Program to $100 million A concerted investment in the recruitment, training, and retaining of certified school librarians Reaffirming student First Amendment Rights to access school library materials, with expanded liability protection for teachers and school librarians. The final piece is a direct response to the increase in book challenges and bans across the United States....