Here are 10 most interesting quotes from Art Matters, an essay in pictures, by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell, about why our future depends on books and libraries

(via Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell about books and libraries (quotes))

We're all stories in the end.

**clears throat** I've told this story elsewhere (tw: cancer, death), but I'm going to tell it again, for reasons. My mom was responsible for my love of reading and books. She took me to the library. She pretty much never said no when I asked for a book at the bookstore. She loved reading.

At some point, she just stopped reading. I don't know why. I don't know if she was too busy or too stressed or what. But when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she was very active--until she wasn't. She was not good at sitting still, ever. And then, she had to.

She felt like hell, and she was bored. So, one day, she asked me for a book--something I loved that I thought she might like. I pulled @neil-gaiman's Neverwhere off my shelf and handed it to her. I told her that it was my favorite Neil book (don't make me pick a fav now, haha).

She absolutely tore through that book, utterly delighted. She loved it. Reading it reignited her love of reading in a way I was, and still am, immensely grateful for. We spent the last year of her life swapping books back in forth. Reading made that year better for her. And me.

So, if you ever wonder if your stories matter, if the book/short stories/poems you are writing make a difference? Remember this. Because they absolutely do, in ways you can know and ways that you can't. Keep writing. The world needs your brilliant bit of weird.

This astonishing house near Stockholm was designed to store an extensive book collection of its owners, and provide them with spaces for creative activity.

(via An outstanding Swedish house organized around a library)

I used to think that if I won the lottery I would start a small publishing company to create monographs about animals that don’t have books yet (okapi, lynx). It would support research & conservation.

But, given the state of the world, now I would also like to start a private library that specializes in the covert lending of books that are under fire (banned, transgressive, etc.). A safe digital space for people to read what’s important to them, to get information they need but might not have access to.

That isn’t to criticize public libraries - which are fighting the good fight - but mine wouldn’t be state funded so it could opt out of the insanity happening.

Being a “Fun Fact !” kind of autistic is all fun and games until you get halfway through sharing an interesting tidbit and realize that it probably wasn’t appropriate to share in polite company and now you have to deal with the consequences :(

I have SO many thoughts about everything and they are in no kind of order yet, so here's just some quick little bits in the meantime!

I am not normal about any of these characters!

I know this is the Take Personal Responsibility for Systemic Issues website, but I keep seeing weirdly guilt trippy posts about libraries and ebook licenses, which are a labyrinth from hell and not actually something you personally need to feel guilty about. here are a few facts about ebook licenses you may not know:

in Libby/Overdrive, which currently operates in most US public libraries, ebook licenses vary widely in how much they cost and what their terms are. some ebooks get charged per use, some have a set number of uses before the license runs out, and others have a period of time they're good for (usually 1-2 years) with unlimited checkouts during that period before they expire. these terms are set by the publisher and can also vary from book to book (for instance, a publisher might offer two types of licenses for a book, and we might buy one copy of a book with a set number of uses we want to have but know won't move as much, and another copy with a one year unlimited license for a new bestseller we know will be really moving this year.)

you as a patron have NO way of knowing which is which.

ebook licenses are very expensive compared to physical books! on average they run about 60 bucks a pop, where the same physical book would cost us $10-15 and last us five to ten years (or much longer, if it's a hardcover that doesn't get read a lot.)

if your library uses Hoopla instead, those are all pay per use, which is why many libraries cap checkouts at anywhere between 2-10 per month.

however.

this doesn't mean you shouldn't use ebooks. this doesn't mean you should feel guilty about checking things out! we buy ebook licenses for people to use them, because we know that ebook formats are easier for a lot of people (more accessible, more convenient, easier for people with schedules that don't let them get into the library.) these are resources the library buys for you. this is why we exist. you don't need to feel guilty about using them!

things that are responsible for libraries being underfunded and having to stretch their resources:

government priorities and systemic underfunding of social services that don't turn a profit and aren't easily quantified

our society's failure to value learning and pleasure reading for their own sake

predatory ebook licensing models

things that are not responsible for libraries being underfunded:

individual patron behavior

I promise promise promise that your personal library use is not making or breaking your library's budget. your local politicians are doing that. capitalism is doing that. you are fine.

(if you want to help your local library, the number one thing you can do is to advocate for us! talk to your city or county government about how much you like the library. or call or write emails or letters. advocate for us locally. make sure your state reps know how important the library is to you. there are local advocacy groups in pretty much every state pushing for library priorities. or just ask your local librarian. we like to answer questions!

also, if you're in Massachusetts, bill h3239 would make a huge difference in letting us negotiate ebook prices more fairly. tell your rep to vote for it!)

My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.

[id in alt text]

"Georgia Republicans bundled over a dozen measures that targeted the state’s transgender residents into omnibus packages in a desperate attempt to get them passed. In a stunning defeat for the GOP, every single one of them failed.

Legislators gutted bills that had passed through committee and instead stuffed them full of their anti-LGBTQ+ wishlist items.

Bills that would ban transgender students from playing on teams aligned with their gender identity, ban transgender students from bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, opt parents into notification for every book a student checks out of the library, bar sex education before sixth grade, make all sex-ed classes opt-in and expand obscenity laws to make it easier to ban books with LGBTQ+ content all failed.

“MAGA politicians in Georgia tried it all in service to their anti-LGBTQ+ agenda,” said Human Rights Campaign Georgia State Director Bentley Hudgins, “including silencing debate and gutting unrelated, popular bills that had bipartisan support to ram through policies that would have put young LGBTQ+ Georgians in harm’s way. They failed.”

“It’s undeniable that the tides are shifting, both here in Georgia and across the nation,” Georgia Equality executive director Jeff Graham added. “Anti-LGBTQ actors are losing their political power, and more and more Georgians who know and love LGBTQ people are standing up against their baseless fear-mongering.”

In Florida recently, nearly two dozen anti-LGBTQ+ bills were defeated in the wake of Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) presidential campaign implosion, dozens of measures in Virginia were tabled [Note: In the US, "tabled" means "shelved" or "taken out of consideration - the opposite of its meaning in the UK and other places], and Ohio’s governor backed off his attempt to restrict gender-affirming care access for transgender adults and minors. 

Meanwhile, in D.C., Democrats successfully excised 50 anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in the two budget bills passed and signed by President Joe Biden to fund the federal government.

Even Fox News has been forced to acknowledge transgender issues are among the lowest-priority concerns among voters."

-via LGBTQ Nation, April 1, 2024

How book lovers are called across Europe

In French, the word for “bookworm” is “rat de bibliothèque” (library rat). In German, it’s “Bücherwurm” (bookworm). In Italy, the most common way to describe a book lover is “topo di biblioteca,”  which is a library mouse. The same in Spain – “ratón de biblioteca” is nothing else but a library mouse.

(via How book lovers are called across Europe (infographic))

Mohammed Aziz owns a bookshop in Rabat, Morocco’s capital city. The country’s illiteracy rate is still high. He works 12 hours a day, selling on average one or two books.

(via A famous bookseller from a country where 26% of the population still can’t read)

You can tell that aftg is insane because in his backstory Andrew literally committed first degree murder and it’s like. a footnote. Like I literally forget he did that

There was a conversation that completely triggered me, and the word "incel" was dropped onto my radar.

Typo aside, this was a really interesting article about behavior and characteristics.

Recognizing speech patterns and phrasings is a very important part of not getting caught in a cycle of violence.

Amor fati.

putting my prediction on record now that the coming decade is going to see the rise of viral-marketed fancy at-home water filtration systems, driving and driven by a drastic reduction in the quality of U.S. tap water (given that we are in a 'replacement era' where our current infrastructure is reaching the end of its lifespan--but isn't being replaced). also guessing that by the 2030s access to drinkable tap water will be a mainstream class issue, with low-income & unstably housed people increasingly forced to rely on expensive bottled water when they can't afford the up-front cost of at-home filtration--and with this being portrayed in media as a "moral failing" and short-sighted "choice," rather than a basic failure of our political & economic systems. really hope i'm just being alarmist, but plenty of this already happens in other countries, and the U.S. is in a state of decline, so. here's praying this post ages into irrelevance. timestamped April 2023

It wouldn’t be historically accurate for my story to include BIPOC!

This is an argument often made about European-style fantasy media like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Disney’s Frozen. Audiences, often white, assume that due to the majority-white setting, adding any visible number of BIPOC to the story would be unrealistic.

What these critics fail to realize is that BIPOC do in fact live, and have lived, in these settings, and records of BIPOC presence in places assumed to be majority-white have been buried, written out, or not taught due to white supremacist and/or colonial bias in the field of history. There are historical European settings that were far more diverse than is often portrayed. Consider:

The Moorish Empire exerted an extensive influence over life and culture in Southern Europe from Spain from 711 to 1492

The Ottomans were heavily involved in European affairs up until the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, but still considered a part of Europe even through the 19th century

The sheer size of the Roman Empire ensured the continued movement of people from various backgrounds within the Mediterranean well until the end of the Byzantine Empire.

“Historical accuracy” should not be used as an excuse for media to be exclusively white in its casting. While there are places which are or were predominantly white, there will always be factors like global trade and immigration that bring multiculturalism to their doors.

And even if the presence of a certain demographic is unrealistic for a certain setting? Consider that we’ve accepted far worse inaccuracies in historical fiction in the name of artistic license. Consider that our understanding of human history is, and will always be, incomplete.

Further Reading:

Historically Diverse London, “Historical Accuracy,” and Creator Accountability

Making a Black Pride and Prejudice Resonate

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