Libraries

More than 300 (and counting) universities, libraries and individuals in related fields have signed a statement in support of the National Emergency Library.

Why the National Emergency Library Is So Controversial

The Internet Archive describes the downloadable collection of more than one million books as a library, but critics call it piracy

A stained glass window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany is one of many artworks available for your perusal.

68 Cultural, Historical and Scientific Collections You Can Explore Online

Tour world-class museums, read historic cookbooks, browse interactive maps and more

Gallup found that the youngest age bracket—covering 18- to 29-year-olds—visited the library the most, possibly because this group included college students.

Americans Went to the Library More Often Than the Movies in 2019

A new Gallup poll suggests that even in the digital age, libraries remain an important fixture in communities across the country

Kurt Vonnegut in 1988

A New Kurt Vonnegut Museum Is Opening in His Hometown

The Indianapolis museum will feature a re-creation of the author’s writing studio and a “freedom of expression exhibition,” among other attractions

The Mustansiriya was built during the 13th century.

What the Restoration of Iraq’s Oldest University Says About the Nation's Future

The Mustansiriya has withstood centuries of war, floods and architectural butchery, but can it survive its own restoration?

At the height of the book scare, news outlets reported that dust from library books could spread infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and scarlet fever.

When the Public Feared That Library Books Could Spread Deadly Diseases

"The great book scare" created a panic that you could catch an infection just by lending from the library

A Crashed Spacecraft Might Have Put Earth's Most Indestructible Organisms on the Moon

The microscopic tardigrades were part of a lunar library sent aboard the Beresheet lander that crashed last April

Engraved portrait of Melvil Dewey.

Melvil Dewey’s Name Stripped From Top Library Award

An American Library Association resolution points to Dewey's history of discriminatory and predatory behavior

The hand-tooled leather cover

A Bible Owned by Lincoln, Unknown to Historians for 150 Years, Goes on Display

The relic offers a new opportunity to reflect on Lincoln’s religious beliefs

Illustration from woodblock-printed text on the life of Gautama Buddha

Library of Congress Digitizes Taiwanese Watercolors, Rare Chinese Texts

The library's rare Chinese book collection includes 5,300 titles, 2,000 of which will ultimately be included in the online portal

Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) provides the public with an extensive selection of birds as part of its collection of items that are available for circulation.

This Library in Anchorage Lends Out Taxidermic Specimens

All you need to check out a snowy owl or a mounted rockfish is a library card

Book of Lost Books Discovered in Danish Archive

The index is part of the Libro de los Epítomes, an effort by Christopher Columbus' illegitimate son to create a searchable index of the world's knowledge

These illustrations come from a miniature book of classical Persian poetry.

The Library of Congress Has Digitized 155 Persian Texts Dating Back to the 13th Century

Offerings include a book of poetry featuring the epic <em>Shahnameh</em> and a biography of Shah Jahan, the emperor who built the Taj Mahal

Winnie-the-Pooh dolls owned by A.A. Milne's son Christopher Robin

Get Excited: The New York Public Library Is Launching Its First Permanent Exhibition

Come 2020, new gallery will feature a rotating trove of artifacts drawn from NYPL's 46 million-strong collection of treasures

Interior of the British Library in London

The British Library’s Dirtiest Books Have Been Digitized

The collection includes around 2,500 volumes and many, many double entendres

Egyptian Schoolboy's 1,800-Year-Old Lesson to Go on Display

The British Library took the exercise out of storage as part of an upcoming exhibition on the history of writing

Woodside Mansion, home to the Rochester Historical Society since 1941

Rochester's 150-Year-Old Historical Society Hit Hard by Lack of Funding

The institution, which houses such precious relics as clothing worn by Susan B. Anthony, has furloughed its staff and suspended its programming

"Mrs. Tabitha's Cats Academy"

Cats in Literature? It’s a Long Tail

A new exhibition at the British Library explores how cats have inspired—and frightened—writers across the centuries

Dorothy Porter in 1939, at her desk in the Carnegie Library at Howard University.

Remembering the Howard University Librarian Who Decolonized the Way Books Were Catalogued

Dorothy Porter challenged the racial bias in the Dewey Decimal System, putting black scholars alongside white colleagues

Chicago Cancels Sale of Kerry James Marshall's 'Knowledge and Wonder'

The site-specific mural, featuring black children and adults gazing at the marvels of the universe, will not go up for auction following intense criticism

Page 4 of 9