“Statistics clearly demonstrate that many people rely on libraries for their stories, and generally, librarians know what gets checked out. Unfortunately, librarians have little knowledge of why people read what they do. As a result, they lack a deeper understanding of how libraries already serve readers, and they miss evidence that they could use to convince state legislatures and other sources of financial support that spending money on stories is important.” – Chronicle of Higher Education
Tag: 10.25.00
A TALE OF TWO LIT AWARDS
“The shortlists for Canada’s most prominent literary awards are often described like rival high school cliques. Giller Prize nominees are the cheerleaders, football captains and student council presidents with perfect teeth who wave out from the convertible at the head of every homecoming parade. Poor Governor General’s Awards nominees, on the other hand, enjoy far less prestige, like the nerdish greasers and trenchcoat types who hang out behind the portables, the jocks coming round every once in a while to bloody their noses and smash their Gothic punk CDs.” – National Post (Canada)
CARNEGIE CHAOS
Five of Carnegie Hall’s top executives have resigned or been dismissed in the past six weeks, and tensions are running so high the board of trustees has hired an outside consultant to talk with the staff privately. Many of the disgruntled cite the autocratic management style of new executive director Franz Xaver Ohnesorg, whose soon-to-be-unveiled five-year plan may instill more ire. – New York Times
MUSIC FOR ITS OWN SAKE
“Music has rarely been truly pure in the sense of expressing nothing but itself. Almost always, it has been defined by other components as well: texts, places, purposes and all sorts of other circumstantial conditions.” Now some composers revisit the idea of absolute music. – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung