Putting Together David Markson's Personal Library Again

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Link to September 19 Boston Globe article by Craig Fehrman, "Lost libraries. The strange afterlife of authors’ book collections".

Excerpt: The news of Liddell’s discovery quickly spread through Facebook and Twitter’s literary districts, and [David] Markson’s fans realized that his personal library, about 2,500 books in all, had been sold off and was now anonymously scattered throughout The Strand, the vast Manhattan bookstore where Liddell had bought her book. And that’s when something remarkable happened: Markson’s fans began trying to reassemble his books. They used the Internet to coordinate trips to The Strand, to compile a list of their purchases, to swap scanned images of his notes, and to share tips. (The easiest way to spot a Markson book, they found, was to look for the high-quality hardcovers.) Markson’s fans told stories about watching strangers buy his books without understanding their origin, even after Strand clerks pointed out Markson’s signature. They also started asking questions, each one a variation on this: How could the books of one of this generation’s most interesting novelists end up on a bookstore’s dollar clearance carts?

Related articles:
The surprising fate of David Markson's library (which wasn't all that surprising).  A 9/17/2010 post from reporter Craig Fehrman blog.
Oh I get it, it's a sci-fi novel!  (LRB blog,7/26/2010)
David Markson's library for sale, and it's going fast.  (Los Angeles Times, 7/29/2010)

The Strand, 18 miles of books.

Manitowoc Public Library Director Promotes 'Share Curiosity, Read Together' Campaign

The Library of Congress campaign to promote the value of parents reading to their children.

Link to Cherilyn Stewart's September 19 column in the Herald-Times-Reporter, "Hopefully, Curious George will spark readers' curiosity".

Excerpt:  There is a new billboard in town that you can see while traveling south on Eleventh Street a little before the bridge over the Manitowoc River.

It's very simple, yet says something positive about our culture. It's a picture of the Man in the Yellow Hat sharing a book with Curious George and a slogan that reads "Share Curiosity, Read Together." It includes the address for a website, www.read.gov.

This is not a new electronic gadget or revolutionary by any means, but it's the message public libraries have been promoting for centuries and I'd like to say thank you to whomever is behind this campaign.

They got it right. Reading to children greatly increases the likelihood they will develop into lifelong readers. It really is that simple. It doesn't take hours a day — 15 minutes will last a lifetime.

Retiring Guy has long been a believer in the importance of parents reading to their children.

At home and at work.

Library Service to the Kenosha County Detention Center

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Link to September 17 Kenosha News article, "Jail library seeks self-help books".

Excerpt: Hard cover books were recently banned because jail officials felt it might be too easy to hide things inside them.

It was a blow to the jail library, which has no budget and hopes to replace dozens and dozens of hard covers with donated paperbacks.

“We need current inspirational and current philosophy or psychology books,” Bryan said.

But, she said, books, magazines and puzzles of all kinds are welcome.

The Bible remains one of the most popular books in the jail. And it’s available in several languages, including Korean.

Chinese translations of John Grisham books also are popular.

In fact, foreign language books of any kind are badly needed because they are so popular and in such short supply, particularly since the county began holding federal inmates and people on immigration holds.

A jail library project worth noting.