I announced yesterday I’m leaving the public library later this year. Here is the local paper’s story about it.

Special Report: Public Libraries America’s first public library is almost as old as America itself. A look at how libraries are inventing vital new civic roles.

From Deb Fallows on the Our Towns site, how libraries are continuing to step up, in under-reported ways, to meet the civic needs of this moment.

www.ourtownsfoundation.org#special-report

Is there an obvious answer I’m missing to explain why I cannot get the Trinity Audio AI version of this piece to play on my iPhone? It starts, plays the 11 sec description of the AI platform but the article never loads for some reason. Am traveling and would like to listen to it today.

The dawn of the post-literate society And the end of civilisation

As the director of the largest public library in Arkansas, and someone who loves books and our 250 year old American project in self-governance, this is an extremely disturbing essay.

Many years ago I had the good fortune to take a course from & then serve as TA for Dick Neustadt. Later still I was a weekend guest with my wife at his modest vacation home on the Cape. He was an exemplary public official & teacher. No, he did NOT offer lessons on the virtues of appeasing tyrants.

Your Support Help Defeat a MAGA Takeover of the Huntington Beach Library Thank you so much for your support!

In Huntington Beach, the message from the community is loud and clear: libraries belong to the people, not to politicians.

www.everylibrary.org/huntingtonwin via @everylibrary.bsky.social‬

What's extra weird about the idea of BlueSky as containment or a bubble, is that it's generating significantly increased traffic for news websites — whereas they've made it near-impossible to get anyone on Twitter to click through, leave the site, & read articles.

People get mad at me on bluesky but I rarely get called slurs, see someone posting a bullshit chart about how people like me are subhuman, and no one complains when i Romapost. People seem to actually read pieces I share! As far as social media experiences go it’s about as good as it gets

Yes, thanks to city voters who enabled this in May of ‘22 when they approved an extension of their property tax (at a lower millage rate!) that supports CALS’s capital improvement bonds. By fall Little Rock will enjoy a beautiful modern downtown public library that will be the envy of larger cities.

Did it. Thanks.

The headline is accurate but falls short of describing the sweeping scope of this deeply flawed legislation that bears a strong resemblance to objectionable provisions of Act 372. A federal court permanently enjoined those sections of Act 372 last December. edition.arkansasonline.com/article/2818...

ALA response to White House assault on IMLS To dismiss the mission of an agency that advances opportunity and learning is to dismiss the aspirations and everyday needs of millions of Americans. And those who will feel that loss most keenly live in rural communities.  As seedbeds of literacy and innovation, our nation’s 125,000 public, school, academic and special libraries deserve more, not less support. Libraries translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used by more than 1.2 billion people every year. Show Up for Our Libraries, ALA American Library Association, #ForOurLibraries

President Trump's executive order to eliminate the Institute of Museum & Library Services would have disastrous effects for communities nationwide. We call on all Americans who value reading & learning to reach out to their elected leaders.

Read ALA's full response: www.ala.org/news/2025/03...

Here is the link:

edition.arkansasonline.com/article/2836...

There are no easy answers to the societal challenge of a steep rise in the number of people without a place to live. But there are some helpful measures that cities like Dallas & Nashville have taken and Little Rock is now trying. Public libraries everywhere are on the front lines of this struggle.

Rock It! Lab Helps 'Underestimated' Entrepreneurs A wall in the Rock It! Lab space in downtown Little Rock's River Market District reads, “If you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you

The Central Arkansas Library System has a simple mission statement: We connect people. We nurture potential. We grow community. No better example of CALS putting this into practice than our partnership with a local nonprofit, Advancing Black Entrepreneurship, to foster small business creation.

When should subscribers “vote with their feet” against Lewis and Bezos by walking away?

Or is it wiser to keep paying to sustain the writers who remain while hoping against all evidence the integrity of this once great newspaper is not yet lost?

Yup, it works. Want a book the library doesn’t have? Ask ‘em for it.

This 1977 picture of Dale Bumpers and Jimmy Carter from the Oval Office hangs on my office wall. Both were young progressive governors first elected in 1970.They broke the grip of old guard segregationists in GA & AR, were courageous, incorruptible, & thankfully shaped my worldviews as a young man.

The best thing you can do for an author is to request their book from your library. The library will usually get it for you! The author will get an immediate sale, and libraries will know there is a demand for their future books! Just google your library name plus "book request" or walk in and ask

A headline reads: Judge Strikes Down Arkansas Law That Threatened Librarians With Criminal Charges. A sentence reads: Republicans passed the law in 2023, joining a wave of other conservative states and counties around the U.S. that have increasingly sought to restrict the availability of certain books.

A federal judge struck down parts of an Arkansas law that included prison sentences for librarians and booksellers for providing books that might be considered “harmful” to minors. nyti.ms/3DIpLBi

Arkansas book-censorship law ruled unconstitutional (UPDATED) - Arkansas Times The book censorship law had already been put on temporary hold.

Another media outlet’s account of this significant ruling in the federal court in Arkansas.

Federal judge declares sections of Arkansas' library obscenity law unconstitutional • Arkansas Advocate The law's vague language could lead to viewpoint-based restrictions on library content, violating the First Amendment, Judge Timothy Brooks ruled.

This is a great victory for the first amendment, public libraries, librarians, bookstores, authors, and readers; and a defeat for censorship and those who would seek to have the government limit access to what other people and their children can read.

My first EV was a Chevy Volt I bought in late 2011. I traded it for a Tesla Model 3 in 2019.

Hyundai Is Becoming the New Tesla Even in a Trump presidency, America’s EV future may not run through Elon Musk.

This is very good news for those of us who are Tesla owners and want to keep driving an EV but can’t come to terms with buying another Tesla after Elon Musk has shown the world who he is.

1/2 Point too obvious to make, except as illustration of contrasting media info-spheres:

Imagine for a moment that UHC suspect were: Black, Muslim, immigrant, undocumented, trans, "antifa," from Calif—"other" in whatever way.

We know that Fox, Trump, entire GOP + MAGA would base ads on it forever

Opinion | Democrats need ‘shortcuts’ to reach low-information voters Plus: Sen. Lisa Murkowksi can be a maverick. The Premier League’s exciting season.

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

How to Be Grateful Despite Trump Counting our blessings has never been more vital.

www.thebulwark.com/p/how-to-be-.... Thank you, @monacharen.bsky.social

This may not sound like much but adding these 5 positions will give the City access to substantial HUD funds that can get more people housed. Doing so is humane and just; and it also provides support for merchants, providers, librarians, and residents who face daily the sad effects of homelessness.

A Note to Readers, in Gratitude. Paying attention to different kinds of time.

open.substack.com/pub/fallows/...

My wife and I are so impressed with this idea that we are planning to implement it when our 19 mo old grandson turns 12. Thanks ⁦‪@JamesFallows‬⁩ for inspiring us.

Thanks to ⁦‪@TimAlberta‬⁩ who captivated > 330 with his program ⁦‪@CALibrarySystem‬⁩ last night about his best selling book. His experiences as an evangelical give him credibility and insight to report courageously the dangers to the democracy and Church of worshipping politics and America.