So today, on the great man’s birthday, we revisit his glorious – and yet also tragic and mysterious – story, and we reflect upon his remarkable body of work.

Early Years and Beginnings as a Writer

The Saint-Exupéry family has a long and storied history and is part of France’s aristocratic tradition. So Antoine did not have what you might call humble beginnings, though the family was not exactly wealthy either.

The death of Antoine’s father in 1904 left the family financially unstable, though the youngster was still able to pursue a respectable education up until the age of 18. This is when things went a little awry, as Antoine was twice rejected from the naval academy, and failed to graduate from art school.

The military was his saviour,  and Antoine trained as a pilot before a crash near Le Bourget led to him leaving the service. He did not lose his love of flying, however, and penned a novella, The Aviator, which reflected his passion for aeronautics. This was followed by his first book, Southern Mail – a novel based on his time spent as an air courier over the Sahara.

Literary Stardom and a Return to the Air

Another aviation-themed novel, 1931’s Night Flight, cemented Antoine’s position as a real literary talent. It won him the prestigious Prix Femina and made his name known on France’s cultural scene.

By now, he wasn’t simply writing about flying anymore. He was writing and flying. Since 1929, he’d been working as director of Aeroposta Argentina, mapping and surveying air routes in South America, and even flying search and rescue missions after the company’s planes went down.

Following the publication of Night Flight, Antoine married Conseulo Suncin de Sandoval, a writer and artist from El Salvador. Their life together was a tempestuous one, made more so by the gathering clouds of war that were beginning to gather over Europe.

Back in his native France, when Germany invaded in 1940, the 39-year-old Saint Exupéry understood what was required of him. As an experienced flier with a military background, he was the ideal choice to serve as a reconnaissance pilot. But this phase of the war did not last long. One week before his 40th birthday, Antoine saw his country sign a humiliating armistice with Germany, and fall into occupation and division.

Exile and The Little Prince

After the French surrender, Antoine and Consuelo fled to North America. Failing to convince the Americans to join the war in Europe, Saint-Exupéry began a prolific period of writing. He was a distinguished voice among France’s growing expatriate resistance movement, but he was about to become something else – a celebrated children’s author.

The Little Prince was written in the summer and autumn of 1942 and is the work for which Antoine is still best known to this day.

A melancholy and moving tale, The Little Prince focuses on the diminutive title character, who travels throughout the cosmos visiting several planets.

While the prose is enchanting, it is also remarkably poignant. Loneliness and loss emerge repeatedly in the book, written at a time when its author was in exile from his home country and suffering significant personal and health difficulties of his own.

As the book was published, the 42-year-old Saint-Exupéry found himself unable to endure the sense of stasis any longer. With the Americans now involved in the war in North Africa, Antoine joined them, returning to the continent where he’d had many an adventure as a peacetime flier.

Disappearance and Legacy

Saint-Exupéry was a capable airman, but he was also sometimes careless. He was known to take novels, and sometimes even a notebook, with him when flying, so he could pursue his love of literature while in the air.

Whether this contributed to what happened on July 31st, 1944, we cannot know. Antoine’s mental and physical health was in serious decline by this point, and the situation surrounding his final flight is complex.

What we do know is that Antoine’s plane came down somewhere in the Mediterranean, and no trace of the beloved pilot and author was found, until a fisherman on France’s Riou island found an identification bracelet belonging to Antoine in 1998, over half a century after his disappearance.

A remarkable career and a fascinating life had been tragically cut short. While the legacy Antoine left behind cannot make up for a life lost so young, it has brought comfort and wonder to millions of readers across the world. And that is something we can all be grateful for.

The post Celebrating 125 Years of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: The Author of The Little Prince appeared first on Magazine.

For young Benjamin Giroux from Plattsburgh, New York, this meant gaining the opportunity to do something incredible. He was able to put the often complex emotions he felt into words for the first time.

What began as a straightforward school assignment quickly turned into a global literary phenomenon.

Poetry and Expression in the Classroom

Learning about poetry is something most of us remember from school. We probably also remember writing a bit of poetry ourselves – maybe it even turned into a lifelong pursuit. For Benjamin Giroux, aged 10 in 2016, this wasn’t really something he’d considered before. But he was willing to give it a shot.

His teacher gave Benjamin and his classmates a prompt. They would each write a poem about themselves, covering eighteen lines of verse. The poem would begin with the words “I am”; the next line would start “I wonder,” the third “I hear,” the fourth “I see,” and so on.

From here, Benjamin and his classmates were free to express themselves however they wanted. The idea was to map out the complex network of sensations and emotions that make up the childhood experience. For Benjamin, however, it was about to become a point of connection between himself and people from around the world.

Benjamin’s Poem – I am Odd

Here’s what Benjamin created in class that day:

I am odd, I am new, I wonder if you are too

I hear voices in the air

I see you don’t, and that’s not fair

I want to not feel blue

I am odd, I am new

I pretend that you are too

I feel like a boy in outer space

I touch the stars and feel out of place

I worry what others might think

I cry when people laugh, it makes me shrink

I am odd, I am new

I understand now that so are you

I say I, “feel like a castaway”

I dream of a day that that’s okay

I try to fit in

I hope that someday I do

I am odd, I am new.

There’s something undoubtedly moving about Benjamin’s work.

At its core, there is a feeling of separation, and the idea that the poem’s author feels somehow disconnected and set apart from the world around him.

But there is hope too, and empathy, and a message that is positive, even if it is also poignant.

Benjamin’s parents were touched by the poem and shared it online with their son’s permission. Almost immediately, the young poet’s work began to make waves around the world, with people getting in touch with their own positive responses.

Connecting with the Public

Momentum really began to gather when Benjamin’s work was picked up by the National Autism Association. When they shared the poem on their Facebook page, it went viral and was shared more than 40,000 times by 2019. By 2021, it had been translated into more than 21 languages.

Often accompanied by the hashtag #OddToo, the poem elicited emotional responses from many readers. “Love ur poem,” one reader said. “People r not odd. We r unique – we r individual. You r u – Be proud.”

“I loooooooove it,” said another. “Thank you for writing it and sharing it.”

Benjamin was a little shy about discussing his poem, but the warm responses led to appearances on The Today Show and features in the Huffington Post. He even became a Local Poet Laureate, after a nomination from the City of Plattsburgh and Beekmantown Central School District.

Musician Martin Eric Smith set the poem to music, offering his own artistic interpretation of the work. For Benjamin, all the attention underlined the difference he was making with his writing.

“I hope kids can learn that they are not alone in feeling like they don’t fit in,” Benjamin said. “We are all different and that makes us unique and that’s what makes us all special.”

The Right to Be #OddToo

There have been various studies conducted on autism, with varying methodologies and results. On average, however, the World Health Organization believes that around one in every 100 children has some form of autism. This makes autism-related conditions fairly common, even if people on the autism spectrum are in the minority.

For anyone experiencing autism, a poem like Benjamin’s can be incredibly valuable. It’s proof that they are not alone, that there are others out there who feel the same way. But the value of the poem is actually broader than this – we don’t have to be diagnosed with autism to feel alone, out-of-step, or even “odd.”

We all feel this way from time to time. It’s natural, human. And so, a brave and emotionally resonant poem like this one serves as a comforting light, which all of us can benefit from.

The post The Viral Poem From a 10-Year-Old With Autism That’s Inspiring Millions appeared first on Magazine.

The works of John Milton and Thomas Paine were suppressed by jittery British authorities. Medieval texts like The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales were deemed too “filthy” for publication in the U.S.. And books by D.H. Lawrence and George Orwell have been suppressed in plenty of countries.

But this doesn’t mean that we should just accept censorship unquestioningly. For librarians like Amanda Jones, many book bans do not protect society, and instead serve to further marginalize already vulnerable individuals. Now, Amanda is telling her own story and shining a light on her struggle against book censorship.

Educator and Librarian

By the early 2020s, Amanda Jones had already enjoyed a long and celebrated career as an educator and librarian in her native Louisiana. After two decades of working in education, Jones was named School Librarian of the Year for 2021 by the School Library Journal and was recognized as one of the country’s leading professionals in the Library Journal.

But in 2022, Jones found herself catapulted from the pages of trade publications right into the broader public eye. In July that year, residents of Watson, LA, held a meeting regarding the content of certain books in local libraries. During the meeting, one of the board members voiced her concerns about “inappropriate” material being made available to children and young people.

Jones offered her thoughts on this. She made it clear that she understood how book challenges are often driven by “the best intentions,” but stated that they often “target marginalized communities.” Jones also said that censorship can make it difficult for young people to access resources on sexual health and reproduction, which can result in serious harm.

This was a thoughtful and considered contribution to the debate. Jones had put forward her own point of view and had remained respectful and measured throughout. She didn’t think much would come of her comments, but she was wrong.

A Campaign of Slander and Abuse

A local group heard about Amanda’s comments at the meeting. That group was Citizens for a New Louisiana, run by a local man by the name of Michael Lunsford. Known for their far-right leaning, Citizens for a New Louisiana had previous here – they’d risen to prominence after a campaign against a library in nearby Lafayette.

Now their target was not a library at all – it was Amanda Jones. One of the group took to Facebook to accuse Jones of “fighting hard to keep sexually erotic and pornographic material in the kids’ section.” This was followed by another post, making even more slanderous and unpleasant claims about Amanda.

Two voices of opposition might not seem like a lot. But remember, this was 2022, and the posts were on social media. Both were shared widely, and more and more voices joined the chorus. Amanda remembers one parent in particular, “whose child I had helped with getting services for a learning disability,” who was especially vicious.

The strain was enormous. Jones began receiving death threats, she lost weight rapidly, and even began to lose her hair. Her family and friends became targets, too. But she would not be broken by the bullies.

Fighting Back

Jones decided that enough was enough. She sued Michael Lunsford and post author Ryan Thames for defamation. Though her case was unsuccessful – the judge decided, shockingly, that online abuse is to be expected for someone who is a “limited public figure” – it did raise her profile.

Appalled by the treatment she had received for adding her voice to the debate, more and more people came out in support of Jones. She gave talks right across the country and was one of the founders of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship. To this day, she remains a tireless advocate for intellectual freedom and social equality, across Louisiana and beyond.

In 2024, she published her own account of what she went through. That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America is an often harrowing, frequently upsetting, but ultimately inspiring book that documents the resilience and determination of its author.

Protecting the Rights of All Children, Everywhere

Amanda Jones provides a great example to us all. In recent years, it sometimes feels like the character of public debate has gone severely downhill. People are more likely to call each other names or make threats against one another than have a constructive conversation.

When Amanda Jones spoke in Walton, Louisiana, in 2022, she put her views across intelligently and respectfully. She cited the need to provide age-appropriate literature for children, but also warned against politicized reactionism that is harmful to communities and individuals.

The response she received was shocking, but Amanda remained unbowed. The fact that she continues to keep her head held high and is unwavering in her commitment is nothing short of amazing.

The post This Louisiana Librarian Stood Up Against Book Censorship appeared first on Magazine.

In fact, it appears this brutal method of book disposal is more common than you might think… or at least, more common than many of us would like to admit. That was the experience of a group of refuse collectors near the Turkish capital of Ankara, who rescued more than 6,000 books from the ignominy of the landfill.

An Emerging Pattern in Ankara

Back in 2017, in the municipality of Çankaya in Ankara Province, local refuse collectors and sanitation workers began to notice something unusual. Amid all the detritus and trash that was being thrown out by the district’s population, there were books. As it turned out… a lot of books.

Saddened to see so many precious volumes being destroyed or lost forever, they decided to do something about it. They began gathering books out of the trash they sifted through every day, cleaning them up, sanitizing them, and bringing them back to life.

Plenty of the books were in pretty good condition, so the team kept them, amassing a large number of titles over several months of collecting. These lucky books, rescued by the sanitation teams, were given a new lease of life. Council employees, eager for something new to read, began borrowing the books, and their family members got in on the act too.

Creating a Library

When the mayor of Çankaya – Alper Tasdelen – heard about what his hard-working refuse collectors were doing, he was inspired. The local authorities began the task of formalizing the library, creating something that could serve the community, and bring joy and knowledge to the people of Çankaya.

“We started to discuss the idea of creating a library from these books. And when everyone supported it, this project happened,” Tasdelen said.

So the old brick factory building, located on the site of the Çankaya sanitation department’s headquarters, became an official library for the city. As well as lending books on two-week loans, the location has become a central community hub – there is a lounge area where people can read, and a chessboard for those who want to put their skills to the test.

As the library is close to popular bicycle routes, it’s become a regular spot for cyclists, who pop into the building to drink tea, take a break, and enjoy a good book. And there are plenty of good books to read… more than 6,000 in total, carefully organized into sections such as fiction, scientific research, and graphic novels.

A Growing Project

The project quickly caught the attention of the wider public, and people began sending their own books directly to the library. While this made the life of the refuse collectors a little bit easier, it also brought a few challenges of its own.

There quickly became too many books to deal with. When the Smithsonian Magazine reported on the project back in 2018, they stated that 1,500 books still needed to be organized and catalogued. What began as a sort of ‘book rescue’ service had rapidly gotten out of hand.

But the local government was fully behind the project. They have since employed a full-time librarian to manage the facility and assist those who want to borrow books.

The irony of so much demand for books that other people had thrown away was not lost on Tasdelen. “On one hand, there were those who were leaving these books on the streets,” he said. “On the other hand, others were looking for these books.”

Serving Turkey’s Communities with Literature

Turkey has a long and proud literary history. From late medieval bards like Mihri Hatun and Sinan Seyhi, to the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish nation and the Ottoman Empire that preceded it have provided us with a rich patchwork of prose and poetry.

But modern Turkey has a problem – its people are crying out for great books to read, and yet there are not enough libraries to serve them. In 2017, it was reported that there was only a single library per 70,000 people in the country. Compare this to the 1:6,200 ratio reported in the European Union around the same time, and you can see the disparity.

The library at Çankaya is just one institution, but it is a step in the right direction. The district’s refuse collectors and sanitation workers have created something amazing, and it is providing a valuable service to the local community, on top of the valuable service these teams already provide.

The post Turkish Garbage Collectors Build a Library from Thrown-Away Books appeared first on Magazine.

Reading Dostoyevsky today, though, there is an inherent disconnection. Even if we read his work in the original Russian, indulging in the author’s mastery of his own native language, we are still separated from the words he organized and inscribed on the page by his own hand.

Not only are we disconnected from the words committed to print, but from the sketches and illustrations he jotted into the margins of his manuscripts, too. It’s in this marginalia that we find fascinating insights into the author, the man, and his creative process.

A Frightening Jumble of Words and Imagery

Dostoyevsky was a versatile writer. He was equally capable of blistering missives like Notes From Underground and House of the Dead, and sweeping epics like The Brothers Karamazov. But mainly, Dostoyevsky is known for the latter – he’s known for works of startling breadth and scope, with an extensive cast of characters and a grand artistic vision.

You’d imagine that this would take meticulous organization and ordering, in the same way a composer might put together a symphony. And surely you’d be right. But a glance at Dostoyevsky’s manuscripts reveals something else. His writing is a chaotic jumble of imagery and form, with doodles in the margins and loping paragraphs that seem to follow neither rhyme nor reason.

Of course, Dostoyevsky had his own system. He simply would not have been able to produce the magic he did without one. But it was a system known only to him. Rather than ordering and arranging his notes like a desk clerk or a secretary, he preferred to let each page sing with life.

The Richness of the Creative Process

The work of Dostoyevsky was forged and fashioned from the memory and lived experience of its author. He was a creator and an artist, but he was also an observer, a sharp-eyed analyst of humanity. Horrifying experiences from his childhood worked their way into his writing, while the shocking mock execution he experienced in 1849 is presented in disturbing detail in The Idiot.

This process of dredging up, reliving, and then processing memories is not only written into his prose – it is etched into the physical material of the manuscripts he worked on.

Downcast shadowy faces are pulled from deep within the author’s subconscious, while architectural drawings sketch out the physicality of the world these characters inhabit.

It’s not that Dostoyevsky was disorganized or haphazard – it’s just that the cathartic, therapeutic, working-through of his ideas was a necessary part of his process.

Diverse Inspirations

The recurrence of architecture in Dostoyevsky’s drawings is representative of one of the author’s great loves – the artistry and magnificence of fine building design. The philologist Dmitry Likhachev has commented that Dostoyevsky’s love of architecture, particularly Gothic architecture, is a metaphor for the dichotomies evident in his work.

The interplay between good and evil, the rapid rises and rapid falls, the rigidness of social structure, are all key themes in Dostoyevsky’s writing, and find physical manifestations in grand gothic structures.

The script itself also needs to be considered. Examining Dostoyevsky’s manuscripts shows us that he wrote in wildly different styles and modes of handwriting. For Dostoyevsky scholar Konstantin Baršt, the author may have used different styles of handwriting to express different thoughts and positions, creating a dynamic ebb and flow of intensity throughout his work.

The Incredible Complexity of Dostoyevsky’s Legacy

Dostoyevsky’s manuscripts and notes have been pored over by scholars. They have been written about in books and essays – and in blogs like this one. They’ve even been exhibited to the public as great works of art.

But there’s no suggestion that these pieces of marginalia and flourishes of creativity were ever meant to be seen by anyone outside the author’s circle. It is Dostoyevsky’s finished works and the wonder he was able to create upon the page that represent his true legacy. These sketches and annotations do not detract from this body or work, nor do they add to it.

Instead, they demonstrate the actions and processes of a formidable artistic mind. They give us a glimpse into the creative structures that Dostoyevsky employed, and the steps required to take us from a collection of memories and thoughts to a fully-realized masterpiece. For that reason, browsing these creations, which sprang directly from the author’s pen, is an incredibly rewarding experience.

The post What Dostoyevsky’s Scribbled Notes Reveal About His Creative Mind appeared first on Magazine.

She’s even credited with changing children’s literature forever and shaping the modern literary landscape for young people. Oh, and she lived to be 104 years old. This is her fascinating story.

The First Uncertain Steps in Literature

This kind of story usually begins with a young person who is head over heels in love with literature. Only, for Beverly Atlee Bunn, it wasn’t like that at all. Moving from a rural setting in Yamhill, Oregon, to the big city of Portland, six-year-old Beverly struggled. She was placed in a class for children who found reading difficult. “I wanted to read,” Beverly said later, “but somehow could not.”

As her reading ability grew, however, the young Beverly became a little disappointed by what she encountered. She was unimpressed by the simplicity and formulaic nature of the stories presented to her.

There was a predictability about the narratives that she didn’t like, and the characters seemed two-dimensional and unrealized.

There was an exception, however. This was The Dutch Twins, written in 1911 by Lucy Fitch Perkins. Following the day-to-day experiences of Kit and Kat, two young siblings from the Netherlands, The Dutch Twins connects with the real lives of ordinary people. This was a revelation for Beverly and was formative to her own literary journey.

A Blossoming Career

Beverly might have struggled in school at first, but not for long. She graduated from high school in 1934 and achieved degrees in English and Library Sciences in 1938 and 1939, respectively. For someone who was initially put off by literature, she now delved fully into it, taking a post as a children’s librarian. Then she became a librarian at an army hospital, where she remained until the end of the war.

It was then that she began to formulate her own literary ideas. After working at a children’s library, she understood that the problems she’d encountered two decades before were still very much in evidence. Children’s books did not reflect the lived experience of the kids who were reading them, and so they simply did not inspire or inflame excitement.

So Beverly, who had become Beverly Cleary after her marriage in 1940, set about writing a children’s book of her own. This book was Henry Huggins, published in 1950, and it introduced the world to a new cast of characters.

These characters were Henry himself, an ordinary boy from Portland, Oregon, and his dog Ribsy. Alongside this pair were the sisters Beezus and Ramona, who also lived in the neighborhood.

A new universe of children’s literature was taking root.

Beverly’s Prolific Talent

Between 1950 and 1957, Beverly published five books in the Henry Huggins universe, developing a rich world for young readers to lose themselves in. Though she and her husband had since relocated to California, the Oregon landscape was something Beverly knew well, and writing about it was a joy.

Over that same period, Beverly wrote three other books, including a pair of volumes focusing on the characters Ellen Tebbits and Otis Spofford, and the teen novel Fifteen. Once she’d unleashed that creative spirit, there was no stopping her.

The next two decades saw Beverly averaging a book per year, with more entries into the Henry Huggins series and other popular series emerging too. Leave it to Beaver (1960) and The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) have become cornerstones of children’s popular culture in America, shaping the experience of youth for generations to come.

A Leading Light in Children’s Literature

It was Henry Huggins who started it all back in 1950, but over time, another of Beverly’s Portland characters came to the fore. That character was Ramona Quimby. Ramona ended up with seven books of her very own and featured in several more. TV shows and movies also cemented her fame, and she became one of Beverly’s best-loved creations.

Beverly’s final novel, written in 1999 when the author was in her eighties, is Ramona’s World. A fitting final chapter to Beverly’s writing career, Ramona’s World sees the titular hero maturing, growing up, and learning more about herself than ever before.

After Ramona’s World, Beverly entered a well-deserved retirement, but the profile of her work continued to grow. She has been honored by libraries and learning institutions across her native Washington State and way beyond, and her birthday is recognized as National DEAR Day – short for “Drop Everything and Read.”

Beverly Cleary passed away in March 2021, less than three weeks short of her 105th birthday. Her remarkable life, career, and contribution to children’s literature will continue to inspire for many years to come.

The post Meet the Librarian-Turned-Author Who Changed Children’s Literature appeared first on Magazine.

How do we even begin engaging with the vast stores of knowledge and wonder in a library? For many of us, the Dewey Decimal System gives us an entry point, breaking the library catalogue into more manageable groups. However, this system was developed in the 1870s and designed for American libraries. In today’s modern, global society, it can feel a little outdated.

This is why one library in Aotearoa/New Zealand is trying something a little different. The team at Te Awe Library in Wellington is trialling an alternative way to organize and classify the Māori literature on their shelves, and bringing more readers into contact with great writers and great works from this culture.

The Project at Te Awe

For Bridget Jennings, Senior Cataloguing Specialist at Wellington City Libraries, the way books are organised is a big deal. Organisation is our first point of contact with the library, and the grouping and placement of books feed both our practical discovery of them and our psychological response to the resources we encounter.

This is why it’s so important to use a system designed for the books it categorises. While reviewing the cataloguing at Wellington, Bridget became concerned that the existing system did not serve works from the Māori tradition, so she and her team began to consider an alternative method.

They began planning groupings based on the Te Ao Māori classification system. This system reflects Māori atua (Māori gods), and the sections of knowledge, activity, and thought associated with each of these atua.

A More Suitable System

The team at Te Awe did not build this system by themselves, nor were they the first to consider this. Māori have used the domains of specific atua to classify knowledge for generation upon generation, and these structures of wisdom are greatly influential on the Māori worldview.

The Ngā Upoko Tukutuku project was designed to achieve the same ends, and Bridget and the team drew upon this tool as they built their system at Te Awe.

They also worked with Māori librarians and experts in the cultural and literary history of Māori people. This collaborative effort brought about a new method of ordering Māori books at Te Awe, grouping works around the atua and their associated systems of knowledge.

Māori Traditional Knowledge, Literature and Culture

Under Te Awe’s new system, books about traditional artistry, woodwork, and carving are grouped under Tangaroa, who is the atua associated with these modes of expression. Tangaroa is also the atua of natural bodies of water, and so books related to the ocean, lakes and rivers, fish, and other aquatic creatures are contained here too.

Rongomatāne is associated with agriculture and cultivated foods. Therefore, any books on the subject of growing crops, tending to gardens, or the culinary arts are contained within this section. As Rongomatāne is also the atua of peace, books on this subject are also organised in this area of the library.

Under the Dewey Decimal System, books on wood carving and river systems would not be placed together, nor would books on conflict resolution and gardening.

The age-old associations between these topics – intrinsic to Māori Mātauranga, or knowledge – are broken down and lost. With a system more closely linked to the root of this knowledge, these deep cultural associations are preserved for new generations.

A Resource that All Can Engage With

Bridget Jennings is clear that this is designed to be a resource accessible to all. Those well-versed in Māori culture will certainly find it easiest to traverse the different sections. But for those without this background, the classification becomes an opportunity to learn about the cultural links and connections that have shaped Māori understanding and identity for generations.

While the project is still in the trial phase, Bridget hopes it will be adopted permanently, not just at Te Awe, but right across Wellington.

Bridget leaves us with an important thought on the nature of classification and libraries as a whole. Libraries and systems of classification are intended to support both the reader and the works they want to engage with, and so both the library and its classification system must reflect the knowledge contained within.

“There are lots of people all around the world who are creating classification systems to meet their needs, especially in indigenous communities,” Bridget says.

“We want people to find it genuinely useful and relevant. That is the most important thing. It’s not about me, the cataloguer. Cataloguers just want people to find what they’re looking for.”

The post This Library in New Zealand Is Replacing Dewey With a System Rooted in Māori Tradition appeared first on Magazine.

For centuries, New York City has been a crossroads of the world, a place where sprawling global networks of trade, migration, culture, and knowledge intersect. Whether setting foot on Ellis Island in the nineteenth century or touching down at JFK in the twenty-first, countless people have arrived in NYC over the last two hundred years, either passing through en route to somewhere else, or settling down.

It’s no wonder that New York has become the most linguistically diverse city on the planet, with around 800 different languages spoken across the five boroughs. Of course, some languages have become more prominent than others, while some remain marginalised. It’s against this backdrop that children’s librarian Tenzin Kalsang is attempting to increase access to her own language and culture – the language and culture of Tibet.

Tibetan Story Sessions in Brooklyn

Tenzin works as a children’s librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library in Williamsburg, NYC. Language and literature have become intrinsic to her professional life, but they are also deeply ingrained in her personal life. As a Tibetan native speaker, far from her ancestral homelands, language is one of the threads that binds Tenzin to her identity and background – and literature is a medium through which this can be expressed.

This was the foundation of Tenzin’s project. As part of her work with the Brooklyn Public Library, she began hosting storytelling sessions, both in Tibetan and in English. She would meet regularly with a group of young residents from the local area, and they would read picture books together, sing songs, and build connections through language.

Even in a city with such a rich linguistic bedrock, a Tibetan storytelling session was unusual. Tenzin’s enthusiasm and eagerness to share and promote her language and culture made these sessions popular in Williamsburg, but the hands of fate and circumstance were about to change everything.

Moving the Project Online

April 2020 was a difficult time for communities right across the world. As COVID-19 put lives at risk and anxiety gripped the globe, physical meetings became impossible. Tenzin’s Tibetan storytime was no exception, and so the in-person sessions were forced to close. Instead, Tenzin did what so many of us did – she used digital technology to take her work online.

Despite her experience as a storyteller and communicator, this new medium made Tenzin nervous. The night before her first online session, she said the anticipation made it difficult to sleep.

“I was like, oh, my goodness, how am I going to do this?” Tenzin remembered. “When I get shy, my face turns really red.”

She needn’t have worried. Her online sessions went down a storm, just as her physical sessions had at the library in Williamsburg. And what’s more, her newfound accessibility meant she was developing a global audience.

From a Brooklyn Apartment, to the World

Tenzin’s storytelling sessions take place in a corner of her apartment, which she has decorated to provide the warm, comfortable, engaging atmosphere she needs to connect with her audience. But that audience is now located across the world.

Within a few months, people began tuning in to Tenzin’s stories from locations around the globe. From Australia to Switzerland, and from the United States to Nepal, viewers logged on to connect with Tenzin and her sessions.

Many of those in attendance were of a Tibetan background themselves, like nine-year-old Tibetan-American Tsojung Yerutsang. But many others were not.

Live sessions were often attended by up to 300 people, and some videos have been downloaded tens of thousands of times. Large numbers of attendees and viewers are people eager to engage with the Tibetan language, even if they themselves do not necessarily have a Tibetan background.

A World in Which No One is Excluded

There are estimated to be around 7.7 million Tibetans across the world. The majority of Tibetans still live in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and in autonomous prefectures on traditional lands in China’s Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces. However, large numbers of Tibetans fled the region following the Chinese annexation in 1950, with tens of thousands settling as refugees in India, Nepal, and the United States.

Disconnected from their homeland, many Tibetans feel that their language and culture are under threat, as each new generation becomes increasingly distanced from their background and ancestry. This is where institutions like libraries can play a unique and valuable role.

“We often say that the library is for everyone, “[but] immigrants and marginalised communities have a hard time accessing and benefiting from library programs,” Tenzin said.

“[People who attend my sessions] see some hope in the preservation and continuation of the language.”

“When I was a child, I didn’t have the opportunity of going to storytime,” she continued. “I model for parents that you can read to your kids in your own language.”

The post The Tibetan Storytimes Delighting Brooklyn, and Beyond appeared first on Magazine.

This is the story of Yoshimi and her Bookworm Foundation – the story of a young woman who fell in love with a people, a language, and a culture, and who has devoted her life to supporting literacy on a nationwide level.

Introducing Yoshimi Horiuchi

Yoshimi Horiuchi was born in 1983 and grew up in Japan’s Kochi Prefecture. Struggling with severe vision problems from an early age, Yoshimi quickly understood that she faced very different challenges from many of her peers, but this did not deter her love for literature.

Before she’d finished school, the young Yoshimi had lost her sight completely, but she would not be defeated.

Mastering braille and supported by her teachers at specialized schools for the blind in Japan, she developed a reputation as a voracious reader, even gaining the nickname “bookworm.”

A high school exchange trip to the USA led to a life-changing friendship with a Thai student on the program. Spurred on by her new companion, Yoshimi immersed herself in Thai culture and went on to study the language at university. While working as a Thai translator in Japan, Yoshimi began to foster a new dream—one that would take her to Thailand permanently.

The Always Reading Caravan and the Bookworm Foundation

In 2010, still only in her 20s, Yoshimi relocated to Thailand. There, she made it her mission to increase access to books for young people right across the country. Yoshimi herself had struggled to access reading materials due to her vision problems, but she had gained the support and assistance she needed – now, she was offering support and assistance of her own.

To make this happen, she founded the Always Reading Caravan, or ARC. Travelling around Thailand, originally by herself, Yoshimi distributed books to local communities, and word quickly spread about the remarkable woman on a literary mission.

Within a year, Yoshimi had expanded her project, using vehicles to deliver more books to more people, even in the most remote areas of Thailand.

By 2014, she had registered the ARC as a non-profit in Thailand, and four years later, she established the Bookworm Foundation – a charitable organization that fosters literacy and reading among young people who may not otherwise have access.

A Growing Foundation

In the last decade, the Bookworm Foundation has expanded, connecting more and more young people with the joys of reading. Driven by Yoshimi’s passion, the Foundation now supports community libraries in locations such as Phrao in Chiang Mai Province and U Thong in Suphan Buri Province. This is in addition to the Foundation’s “book corners” – community reading nooks that inspire creativity and imagination wherever they are placed.

Libraries — both of the static and the mobile variety — are just part of the Foundation’s work. Noon Noon Books is the Foundation’s small publishing arm, providing publications in braille, large print, and various sensory mediums. This is part of Yoshimi’s commitment to helping all children gain access to a wide range of reading materials, no matter their ability level – just as she was able to foster her own love of reading while growing up.

Reading and education centres, outreach programs and home visits, craft workshops, and literacy circles – these are just a few of the other activities that the Foundation is involved in. Yoshimi’s early years may have been difficult, and she certainly still encounters challenges, but she has maintained an inspiring positivity and zest for life. What’s more, she’s turned this drive and passion into something actively beneficial and truly impactful for young people and communities across her adopted country.

Supporting Yoshimi and the Bookworm Foundation

Yoshimi and her team have already achieved so much with the Always Reading Caravan and the Bookworm Foundation. Now, 15 years after launching the ARC, Yoshimi has taken her childhood nickname and turned it into a beacon for literacy, creativity, and good old-fashioned fun.

But let’s not forget this is a non-profit foundation. They can’t make such a difference in the community without donations and support. If you live in Thailand, you can volunteer to work with the Foundation through the Foundation’s Support Page.

If you don’t live in Thailand, you can still support the cause through a monetary donation or book donation. Every contribution helps Yoshimi and her team as they expand their reach, touching the lives of more and more young people across Thailand.

The post Meet the Blind Bookworm Empowering Thailand’s Youth Through Literacy appeared first on Magazine.

The team at Kankuaka Library certainly agrees with this. The Biblioteca Publica Kankuaka, in Atanquez, Colombia, has become a beacon for indigenous culture, keeping long-standing narratives alive for new generations to engage with. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Kankuaka and the team, but they’ve stayed the course. And in doing so, they’ve achieved something remarkable here in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains.

The Beginnings of the Kankuaka Story

The story of the Kankuaka Library began quickly. In 2013, the town of Atanquez received a shipment of books from Colombia’s National Network of Public Libraries. Not knowing what to do with them, the townspeople left the shipment untouched until they heard that someone was coming to take the books back.

Spurred into action, a man named Souldes Maestre and his friends got to work. They unwrapped the books, found a place for them in a local community center, and declared the library open.

When a government official showed up, she was unconvinced. It wasn’t a library in her eyes, but it was a start. She decided to give them more time, along with a collection of library furniture and more books. They did not let her down – Maestre and his team got the library up and running, and they never looked back.

From Inauspicious Beginnings to Award After Award

It didn’t take Souldes Maestre and his team long to get their act together. Pleased with the new tables, chairs, and books, they threw themselves headlong into their work.

They were recognized for their efforts almost immediately. In 2015, only two years after encountering a skeptically raised eyebrow from a visiting government official, the library was a finalist for Colombia’s National Library Award. Only two years later, in 2017, they emerged victorious. Atanquez’s Kankuaka public library was officially on the map.

Since then, the library and the team have been recognized by several national and international bodies. This is a truly exceptional library, serving its local community beautifully. But is there something more going on here? What makes Kankuaka stand out from the crowd?

Keeping the Flame of Indigenous Culture Alive

Around 10,000 people live in Atanquez, most of whom are members of the Kankuamo people. This part of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains is specially designated as the Kankuamo indigenous reserve.

This makes the work of the Kankuaka Library all the more important. It serves as a medium for the stories of Kankuamo elders and ancestors, and as a central hub around which the culture and the community can rally.

In this sense, the center at Atanquez is much more than just a library. It is a cultural lifeline and a point of connection between past, present, and future.

The library certainly offers books, but it also gives young people the opportunity to hike up the mountain and sketch the age-old petroglyphic artwork that exists on the high hillside. It hosts storytelling sessions and workshops that forge connections with traditional practices, and it weaves culturally significant stories into stop-motion animations, ready to be shared, discussed, and engaged with.

It does everything that we’ve come to expect from a library, and so much more. It’s no wonder the library and its team have won multiple awards; the service they perform for Atanquez and the Kankuamo is nothing short of incredible.

Reinforcing Cultural Identities

“For us, the concept of memory is not like a museum, something that can be seen, but rather represents survival,” former Kankuamo chief John Robert Torres Maestre said in 2022. “If we do not have that memory, if we do not have those stories, we cannot continue to be Kankuamos.”

This truly underscores how important the library and its programs are to people in this vibrant, thriving, yet still at-risk community. And younger generations are eager to become the torchbearers of this tradition.

“They show us as another part of who we are,” 13-year-old Sahian Maestre said, following a trip to see the petroglyphs. “They tell us about the past and explain how indigenous people saw things. It is also another way of seeing each other, and how our ancestors believed each of us is connected.”

The Kankuamo culture has faced real challenges over the years. In recent decades, many people have left the reserve and, with it, their culture. More recently, however, they are returning – re-igniting the flame of culture and identity. Of course, the Kankuaka Library is helping make this happen.

The post The Untold Story of the Colombian Library Keeping Indigenous Stories Alive appeared first on Magazine.