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In the build-up to the launch of her new book, Peacebuilders: Daisaku Ikeda & Josei Toda, Buddhist Leaders, a Biography, author M. LaVora Perry has launched an essay competition for kids right through from K-12 – that’s 5-18 year olds. Divided into three age-groups, there’s a choice of essay titles about building peace. Deadline for entries is 11:59 P.M. US Ohio time on the book launch date, Tuesday, March 16, 2010.

Older Brother and Little Brother have just watched the trailers (both the long and short version) and are resolved to read the book – we’ll be reviewing it soon on PaperTigers. And I also want to find out a bit more about Daisaku Ikeda’s children’s books…

The Snow Country Prince by Daisaku Ikeda (illus. by Brian Wildsmith and translated by Geraldine McCaughrean) is a story about two children, Mariko and Kazuo, who look after a wounded swan during the winter months when their fisherman father is away at sea.  Winter is a cold and lonely time for the children but the season also marks its entry with the arrival of the swans who come to shelter in the marshes by the sea.  However, this time the north wind is more severe than usual and creates ice on the edges of the sea making it difficult for the swans to forage.  After a visitation by the Snow Country Prince who is worried about his  feathered subjects,  the children are encouraged to feed and take care of the swans.  They are told, “Whatever happens, don’t give up.”

A wounded swan left by wolves is found on the shore line by the children who take it home to administer to its needs — never ‘giving up’ as the Snow Prince has told them.  In the meanwhile, the childrens’ father has an accident and is hospitalized; the mother must leave the Mariko and Kazuo to attend to their father.  The children, left alone, become determined more than ever to restore the swan to health.

The Snow Country Prince is beautifully illustrated by Brian Wildsmith in a colorful and captivating style.  It’s a book most suitable for reading aloud with a child in your lap in a warm and cozy place.   Ultimately a story about the virtues of kindness and determination encouraged by a figure of divine origin, The Snow Country Prince is also not a bad read for this time of year when such virtues of divine origin can be a cause for celebration.

Donald Ritchie, author of Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps, Our Constitution, and The Congress of the United States: A Student Companion, has been Associate Historian of the United States Senate for more than three decades. In the post below he looks at the fall of newspapers.

In her end-of-the-year column, The Washington Post’s ombudsman, Deborah Howell, reviewed some dismal statistics: since she started in her job in 2005, the Post’s daily circulation has declined by 45,000. At the same time, the Post’s web site registered a 15% increase in viewers. A decade earlier, when the Post first launched its online news service, publisher Donald Graham summed up the imperative in three words: “classifieds, classifieds, classifieds,” but the drift toward news on the Internet has drained away larger retail advertising as well. Newspapers across the country have reported similar slumps in circulation and advertising revenue. (more…)

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Libraries are such magical places. You can choose your delights from the featured books gathered in places (usually by theme) throughout the library; cruise the fiction shelved alphabetically; or hightail it directly to a favorite section such as history, art, or gardening. Long before children learn the Dewey Decimal system, they learn where their favorite books are shelved. The youngest children choose by cover design - young readers often choose by favorite author - then we mature into readers who also consult the covers, inside jacket blurbs, and perhaps the introduction or table of contents before we make our selection.

No matter how we make our selection, every book can be checked out and taken home. Unlike the book store where selections are made according to need and bank balance, hungry-eyed readers have access to every single book in the library. Food gluttony can lead to illness, but I never heard of anyone getting sick from reading too many books or learning too much.

Because books are always coming and going from library shelves, you are never sure what you are going to find in a favorite section or by a favorite author. Yes, you can reserve books in advance and pick them up when they're available, but that takes the fun of discovery away. I love that "oh, wow" feeling when I find a treasure I wasn't expecting on the library shelves.

Last Saturday on a gorgeous afternoon, I went to my local branch. I found two books I had been wanting to read and empty rocking chairs on the screened in porch looking out over a lovely wood. As I rocked and reviewed my stack to determine which of the lovelies would actually go home with me, I was so thankful to Andrew Carnegie and all the other hundreds of folks who developed and continue to sustain public libraries across the country.

The role of libraries continues to change. There are more and more computers as people surf the information highway. There are study groups, language tutoring, story telling, community meetings...but the main business of the library is still circulation. Sharing books with anyone with a library card. What a gift. Today, I'm thankful for my current bag of books from the library. Support your library. It is partially funded on its circulation numbers. Patronize your library. Join a book group, tutor a child, attend a meeting, or just sit and read. You'll be glad you did.

When I was in library school, I read The Social Life of Documents (published in the first issue of first monday, May 1996) and it changed me.

[from the introduction]: Seeing documents as the means to make and maintain social groups, not just the means to deliver information, makes it easier to understand the utility and success of new forms of document. This social understanding of documents should better explain the evolution of Web as a social and commercial phenomenon.

I started to think about librarians (as people) and libraries (as institutions) not only as archivists, collectors, organizers, retrievers, and deliverers of information, but also as facilitators of social engagement; building capacity in individuals (not just knowledge) and building communities (local and otherwise) through connection between those individuals.

My colleague Andy Havens recently reminded me where it had all started for me when he pointed out some very interesting historical data on library circ numbers (his words), recently published (in Book Circulation Per U.S. Public Library User Since 1856) by Douglas Galbai, a senior economist at the FCC. Mr Galbai's research indicates that "historically established institutions (libraries) significantly stabilize borrowing behavior." But why?

[from the conclusion]: Borrowing books from public libraries is well-connected to a variety of institutions and values. Much of the pleasure from reading may be derived from discussing a book with friends who have also read the book. The desire to discuss books among friends may constrain the rate at which individuals will read books. At the same time, persons may value going to the library as an activity in itself. Borrowing library items may be in part a by-product of interest in those visits.


Coincidentally, our upcoming survey investigating privacy and information sharing on the web indicates that people who engage in social networking actually read more than those who do not. Really? Coincidence?

Could it be, asked Mr. Havens, that social networking could be one reason that people read more? When I have people with whom I have enjoyable book and reading discussions, would I tend to read more?

Ya think??

More than a decade has passed since the publication of The Social Life of Documents. But discussions around the social nature of our work seems to only recently be getting recognition in the professional library discourse. Sometimes I'm encouraged and engaged by the conversation. Sometimes I think to myself: why are we disconnected from this history? And why is this taking so long?