What States Have The Most Presidential Libraries On The Map?

I’ve always been an audiobook fan, so I looked into the largest US libraries to see what sort of audiobooks they offer. It turns out that audiobooks are everywhere and there’s a huge selection. The Houston Public Library and the Philadelphia Free Library are two of the largest libraries in the US and they have partnered with Axis 360 to offer their patrons access to hundreds of thousands of audiobooks, including new YA releases like The Hate U Give and memoirs like Born a Crime. In addition to having an immense library of titles, many libraries also host virtual author events and discuss the behind-the-scenes of certain books. Also, note that many popular series (e.g. Harry Potter and The Hunger Games) are available in full on audiobook for binge listening purposes. Download the app, login with your library card and start listening to your favorite books while multitasking.

I wasted hours looking for a free alternative to a resource that in the end I bought without regrets. The book “Translation State’s” AI politics are crazy to read and the physical book even has these very useful notes in the appendix. I sometimes just have to splurge…

It’s a promise. The entire design is a visual promise of the life that Belle could have: a life of intellect, of action, of beauty. The alternate future that the Beast can bring to Belle is the total opposite of what Gaston is promising her: a dull, mundane, average life. So my inspiration for this was ‘alternate futures’ and I designed the best possible version of what the Beast could offer Belle in order to make her choice believable and for the audience to invest in her. Every detail is a selling point.

Alan Moore wrote V for Vendetta in a graphic novel format, which really brings out the totalitarian regime’s complete control with all the surveillance needed to stifle any opposition to their freedom to do as they like. It’s also great to see how Moore’s storyline has become current in today’s world of increased surveillance and control. Another somewhat lesser-known novel also exploring the issues of surveillance in a dystopian setting is ‘The Trial’ by Franz Kafka. Although not explicitly a ‘surveillance’ story, much of The Trial creates the same sense of creeping fear as the protagonist is slowly booted around theabyrinthine bureaucratic system, with no clear charge against him. In a complete contrast to the two earlier examples, Neal Stephenson’s ‘Snow Crash’ is a fun and much quicker read which combines an action packed plot with lots of quirky and humorous characters in a thriller that also explores the issue of corporate surveillance in a cyberpunk world. It too gives insight into the dangers of surveillance but from a completely different angle.

One note I made was about the distinction between nature locations and man-made locations. The forest at camp is wild and ancient, full of the secrets of the dryads, while the city is loud and modern and full of monsters. As a child of the sea (a force of nature), Percy is often strongest or most at peace in natural locations like rivers, the ocean, or the beach. The antagonists in many cases take refuge in man-made or corrupted locations – a cruise ship or the prison of a rancher. It is a subtle theme, but one that is expressed: nature vs. corruption, the old world vs. the distorted new one. The locations even subtly take sides.

The idea that ‘1000 books make a library’ is very interesting. Firstly, this quote epitomises a library and what it is made of. For popular novel collections, the books need to be of good quality and diverse in order to cater for a variety of readers. It is a given that classic novels such as ‘Pride and Prejudice’ will feature in many popular collections, but it is also important to remember that modern bestsellers like ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ are also very popular and can be a great gateway to less well-known novels. Classic novels draw people back to them time and again and can evoke feelings of nostalgia in some readers, whilst modern bestsellers can introduce readers to new worlds, authors and stories of today. The best libraries find a balance between a collection of the most popular titles and the rarer, deeply literary work. A collection consisting entirely of bestsellers would likely have a narrow range of subjects and perspectives, while a collection consisting entirely of lesser-known books may fail to attract many readers. For example, a single shelf of Harry Potter novels will usually be placed next to a shelf of equally popular novels, and then next to a shelf of less popular but still terrific novels, including some real gems that few people have ever heard of. So, within the confines of a 1000 book collection, the most popular novels serve as cultural landmarks providing a gateway to other lesser-known but equally wonderful books by a wide variety of authors writing in a variety of different styles. In other words, a library becomes a living archive of the culture of our times, the sum of all human imagination and emotion. However, with the advent of digital media, new platforms for consuming literature have emerged, blurring the lines of what constitutes a library of 1000 popular novels. Online e-book libraries, or even those containing audiobooks, are increasingly finding a foothold, alleviating the constraints of space in physical repositories. Algorithms filtering through the swell of literature online also create new conduits to hugely popular novels and lesser-known literary gems alike. Importantly, though digital media have brought about immense change in how we consume popular novels, the basic principle of a 1000-strong library of fiction remains the same: to spread curiosity, establish connections, and nurture a reader’s love for literature. And at its core, all popular novels act as the catalyst for the countless other novels waiting to be devoured by their readers, a ceaseless stream of literary masterpieces.

I’ve seen this book compared to others like ‘One Day’ and ‘The Last Letter from Your Lover’ but this is a sunnier book. Yes, there is grief and the couple are separated for most of the year but this is not a sad book. The growth of both characters during their time apart is satisfying to read and the ending is bright and looks to the future. There’s none of the feeling of ‘we lost so much time’ and had to rush back to each other. Instead there’s a sense of ‘look how much we gained while we were apart and we can bring that with us’. It’s a good twist on a separated lovers reunite book and it’s been done well. The whole book is very much focused on the present and future and not the past, which is great to read. The final pages practically glow with optimism and it’s a feel good ending that doesn’t feel cheesey.

I would love to know this as I recently visited my local Carnegie library, which is this beautiful old building with creaky wooden bookshelves. My local librarian told me that there is no master list of books in all Carnegie libraries. Each library lists its stocks separately, and therefore it is impossible to calculate the total number of books in all libraries. My local library has around 50,000 books, I’ve heard that the main library in Pittsburgh has over a million. But that’s not the point of a Carnegie library – it’s not a warehouse of books, it’s more of a community treasure chest.

A random accident could have happened to any parent on any slightly distracted afternoon. The community (and maybe even Alice) can’t handle that randomness. They need a reason for what happened. They need to see a flaw in Alice that caused this to happen. So they magnify all of her previous flaws to justify what happened. ‘It happened because she was unhappy. It happened because she was standoffish. It happened because she wasn’t a perfect mom.’ But what if it was just an accident? Maybe the most horrible accident ever to occur. But then there’s no reason for it. And the possibility that the universe is indifferent to us is perhaps more terrifying than our guilt. Perhaps this is part of Alice’s unraveling – her confrontation with this cosmic indifference and her inability to cope with it – and she’s just looking at it from a different angle.

Consider the interior lighting too when adding a solar light. A massive interior will likely remain dark whereas a smaller, shallower box can be lit up by a single small light to create a useable space until dusk.