Book Review: Literacy in America

Lawrence R. Samuel, Literacy in America: a cultural history of the past century. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2024.  ISBN: 9781538189542.

Genre: literacy, reading

Subgenre: history, education

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

This book presents a history of literacy in the United States over the last century. Literacy here refers to learning how to read and the ability to read. This is not a book about what Americans may or not have been reading.

The book makes some good points, but it is a seriously slow read, and it is pretty much a dry textbook. Sure, it considers how literacy is a contested ground for race, gender, and class, and those are important topics. However, the important ideas get buried in the constant citing of scholarly articles, trade publications, and other academic sources. To be honest, the book reads like a student research paper where the student, instead of being selective in what sources to cite to support their claims, just cited everything they found to fill up the page quota. Whatever voice the author has gets lots in citation after citation of this scholar in a journal article or that teacher in an education magazine.  

This is what the author intended with the book: 

"Supported by hundreds of research studies conducted throughout the years as reported in scholarly journals and popular magazines, the book intends to make a contribution to the histories of education, language, and literature, sociology, and the United States as a whole" (vii). 

Oh, he lays those research studies and periodical articles pretty thick. As for the contribution statement, that is an ambitious declaration.

I was honestly hoping this would be more interesting, but it was not. One detail I will mention is that history often repeats itself. Some of the concerns today on whether kids can read or not are pretty much the same as concerns back in the day. Every time a new technology comes along, be it radio, television, or the internet educators freak out about kids abandoning reading. For the most part, the kids are still reading, even if it is not the "classics," but that is another conversation. 

For example, back in the 1920s aand 1930s, pearls were clutched because kids were not reading classics or wholesome books: 

"Students tendency to choose less than hearty literary fare was just one problem associated with literacy in the 1920s and 1930s" (1). 

Gee, the generation coming out of the Great War (World War I) and its horrors wants to read light, fluffy, escapist fare. The humanity! I would say not unlike today with readers seeking light, fluffy, escapist fare to forget the Hard Times for a while. 

Overall I would say this book was just OK. For libraries, this is highly optional. If I had been able to read a review copy beforehand, I would not have ordered it for our library. This may be one for larger academic libraries with comprehensive collections in education and maybe some large library school libraries. Small academic libraries can pretty much skip this. 

2 out of 5 stars. 

Book Review: Lies that kill

Elaine C. Kamarck and Darrell M. West, Lies that kill: a citizen's guide to disinformation. Lanham, MD: Brookings Institution Press, with Rowman and Littlefield, 2024. ISBN: 9780815740728.

Genre: information literacy, media literacy

Subgenre: political science, current affairs, media, technology

Format: trade paperback, but I also had an ARC for it from Edelweiss

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

For the record, I read this book before the election results of 2024 became known. Looking at the situation now, I feel this book is even more timely. It does take us right up to 2024 right before the elections.

In seven chapters the authors discuss the various ways that disinformation is not only dangerous but outright lethal. They then add one more chapter where they present a series of solutions. The authors wrote the book as a guide to help ordinary people learn about and understand what disinformation is and how it works. The authors discuss how disinformation works in the following areas: 

• elections
• climate change
• public health
• race relations
• war
• governance

 The authors combine case studies, analysis, and documentary material to present their points. The material is presented well with good organization and clear explanations. The preface provides a road map of the book's structure and basic thesis. The first chapter goes over the basics of disinformation and how it works. Chapters 2 to 7 look at disinformation in the areas listed. Chapter 8 provides their solution proposals. 

I felt some of their solutions were either a bit too optimistic or outright not right. For example, wanting universal real name registrations online is not only unrealistic, but it raises all kinds of privacy rights issues and security concerns that the authors seem to ignore in the interest of making a point. 

For the most part, the book is an easy read. Each chapter starts with a case study, then presents and explains the concepts in a clear way. The book does work well as a text for regular people. Jargon is kept to a minimum. For regular people wanting to learn what disinformation is and why it is dangerous, this is a good option. Each chapter includes endnotes for documentation. 

Overall, I really liked the book. I do recommend it for public and academic libraries. The book could also be a good selection for library schools and training librarians in information literacy. We ordered it for our library, and I will promote it locally. 

4 out of 5 stars.

Additional reading notes: 

What social media research shows:  

"Indeed, contemporary research on social media sites has shown that people who have extreme views and are deeply suspicious of experts and traditional media are the ones most likely to be influenced by false narratives and disseminate them to their friends and acquaintances" (8). 

Disinformation defined: 

"We define disinformation as material that is: 

• false
• organized
• intentional and malicious
• harmful
• fast" (8). 

 

A sampling of people you encounter in the book: 

"In this book, we will encounter people who have been accused of crimes they never committed or been pronounced dead of COVID but are still alive" (12). 

 

What AI has done for disinformation: 

"The result of this AI innovation has been a digital space that now has few safeguards in place, less active content moderation, and new tools to spread lies" (42). 

 

Best way to fight disinformation: 

"The best way to fight disinformation is to educate the public about ways to evaluate political narratives and be skeptical about information sources" (127). 

 As an information literacy librarian I do my part to teach these skills to our students (even as certain faculty rush right in to embrace AI, but that is another story).

 

Disinformation is big business, and it needs to be demonetized. I agree, but given the very large financial incentives I do not see it happening, especially in the U.S. where money is a god basically: 

"Practitioners find it easy to make money from subscriptions, ad revenue, and merchandise sales associated with false narratives. Some sites make millions peddling false content about elections, climate change, public health, government, and race. Unless we take significant action, we will never stop the flow of deadly information about these and other topics" (135-136). 

Knowing what I know and my skill set, if I had bad ethics or no ethics at all, I would would be making bank. The thought does occur to me now and then, but my decency and integrity are not for sale even if, as attributed often to P.T. Barnum, there is a sucker born every minute. 

 

Qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge: 

 

Book Review: Verified

Mike Caulfield and Samuel S. Wineburg, Verified: How to think straight, get duped less, and make better decisions about what to believe online. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2023. ISBN: 9780226822068.

Genre: reference

Subgenre: information literacy, internet, research

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

This book is an essential guide everyone using the internet needs to have handy. This book teaches how to be skeptical of what you see online and how to evaluate it. In these Hard Times where the internet and social media are full of scams, click bait, rage bait, and all sorts of assorted bullshit, this book gives you the tools to separate the crap from the few good things that remain. This guide can help you navigate the enshittified internet. 

The book is arranged as follows: 

• Introduction.
• Chapter 1: Get quick context.
• Chapter 2: Cheap signals. 
• Chapter 3: Google.
• Chapter 4: Lateral reading. 
• Chapter 5: Reading the room.
• Chapter 6: Show me the evidence. 
• Chapter 7: Wikipedia.
• Chapter 8: Video games. No, it is not about games. This is more about how videos are used to deceive. 
• Chapter 9: Stealth advertising. 
• Chapter 10: Once more with feeling. 
• Chapter 11: Conclusion. 
• Postscript, which briefly covers large language models, so-called AI, and verification.
• Notes and bibliography. 

Caulfield, one of the two coauthors, created the SIFT method (Stop, Investigate, Find other coverage, Trace the claim). Along with Wineburg, they basically give you a full course on how to evaluate what you see online so you can be empowered and act accordingly. The authors take you through the process step by step. These are skill you can learn with relative ease, and you develop the critical habits taught in the book you'll be able to better navigate the internet. A strength of their lessons is that often they do not take a lot of time. That is because you learn to assess quickly. If you decide to pursue a topic further, the authors show you how to do so. If you assess and decide something is not valid, relevant, or just not worth your energy, you can swiftly move on. Being efficient is a key element here. 

The book is relatively easy to read. Each chapter gives you practical examples and then they explain how to best handle each situation. You then learn the overall lesson so you can apply it when you go online. Chapters also include various tips and pieces of advice. Every chapter ends with a list of takeaways summarizing what you are learning. 

By now I am sure many academic librarians apply the lessons from the book in library instruction. We've done some some of it, but we will be working on adding more formal elements from the book in our instruction sessions. However, you do not have to be in an academic setting. This accessible book works for anyone wanting to learn how to find reliable information, evaluate it, and avoid the rest of the crap out there. In a time when Google largely has gone to shit, this book gives you steps and advice for making some good from Google. You learn how to do lateral reading like fact checkers do, and Wikipedia can be your ally, contrary to what some old time educators may claim. Learn that and more reading this book, then keep it handy for when you need a reminder now and again. 

This book is essential for all libraries. Librarians who have not ready it need to read it and then promote it to their patrons. The book can be beneficial for students in composition classes that require research. It may also be of interest to journalism students, journalists, and other writers who do or should be doing research. I recommend it fully, and I would buy a copy for my personal shelf. 

5 out of 5 stars. 

Additional reading notes: 

What this book can help you with: 

"Instead of being driven by emotion and outrage, you'll come to see your gut reactions as precious gifts that signal you to pause, take a breath, and ask a basic question: Is what I am looking at even what I think it is?" (3) 

 

Google is a search engine, not a truth engine:

"Google is not a dispassionate partner in information seeking who diligently corrects you when you've taken a wrong turn. Google is out to please, trying to determine what you want-- even if doing so means giving you a dubious answer but one you want to hear" (78). 

 And with its high commercialization, predominant advertising model, and now integrating LLM and AI features, it's gotten worse in terms of finding what you actually need. 

Need to beware expertise cynicism: 

"In authoritarian regimes, creating a broad cynicism about all sources of expertise-- the press, academics, professionals-- serves to make sure political power, not truth-seeking, is the ultimate arbiter of what is true" (109). 

This book qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenges: 

Book Review: Our History Has Always Been Contraband

Colin Kaepernick, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, eds. Our History Has Always Been Contraband: in Defense of Black Studies.  Kaepernick Publishing, in partnership with Haymarket Books, 2023. ISBN: 9798888900574.

Genre: African American, Black Studies

Subgenre: history, politics, interdisciplinary, anthology

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

 

This book was my selection for Black History Month in February 2024. The book came together as a response to efforts to remove AP African American Studies courses in schools, especially in Florida. The book looks at the history of Black Studies with focus on the United States, a field of study that has been under attack from its inception and to this day. The book explores the history of the field and provides a sampling of key texts. 

The book is arranged as follows: 

• Preface by Colin Kaepernick. This describes the book project and how it became a reality. 
• Part One: How We Got Here. Two essays from the editors outlining the history of Black Studies and where we are now. This is a good overview of the topic. 
• Part Two: The History They Don't Want You To Know. This is the core of the book. It contains 38 pieces from various works starting with "Walker's Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World" (1829) to "'Introduction: Black Health Matters' from Black Disability Politics" (2022). This is a sampling of the materials that certain people don't want you to read and are working to ban. 
• Part Three: How We Fight Back: Three essays here on how to answer critics and censors as well as demonstrating how Black Studies are essential. 

When I started reading the book, I thought I would read Parts One and Three, then pick and choose some selections from Part Two to get a sense of the arguments. I ended up reading the book cover to cover. The writings are interconnected, and the ideas build up on each other, so take your time and read the book in full. In addition, the readings overall are interesting and engaging. It is not often that an academic book keeps me reading. I could not put this book down, kept wanting to read one more essay. Before I knew it, I read the whole book. It helps that the texts are accessible. People hear terms like "critical race theory" and think it is a complex esoteric term. It is not. Read this book so you can learn about it and more. 

This is an interdisciplinary book. The writings come from diverse fields including literature, politics, law, psychology, sociology, gender and sexuality, feminist studies, queer studies, and more. If the book has a shortcoming, it's that the pieces in Part Two are mostly excerpts. However, this is not a book meant to be definitive. It is meant to expose readers to the basics and then teach them how to stand up and defend their learning and history. The idea here is to keep on learning, keep on reading and searching, and to keep growing. To do so, you can seek out the full works. Additionally, the book includes a "Recommended Readings in Black Studies" list that can make a good reading list for those interested in learning more. It can also make a pretty good curriculum. 

This is book is essential reading not just for Black History Month but at any time. Black history is everyone's history, and this book makes it accessible for anyone to read it and start learning. This is the kind of book I wish had when I took courses in Black Studies in graduate school. Yes, it took me a while to find such classes, but let's not digress. The book is an excellent and essential book that I highly recommend. 

This book is essential for public and academic libraries. I would say it should also be available in school libraries. I ordered a copy for our library, and I will promote it on our library's blog and social media as well. 

5 out of 5 stars.

Additional reading notes: 

The editors' hope for the book: 

"...I hope this collection of historical and contemporary essays-- some of which are original-- can be used as a resource to deepen our collective understanding of Black history through the discipline of Black Studies-- a dynamic field of study whose twentieth-century origins were birthed in resistence to the  very foundations of Western thought and the U.S. university system" (x). 

Carter G. Woodson quote, so relevant now, so urgent: 

"It is strange. . . that the friends of truth and the promoters of freedom have not risen up against the present propaganda in the schools and crushed it. This crusade is much more important than the anti-lynching movement, because there would be no lynching if it did not start in the schoolroom" from his book The Mis-Education of the Negro (qtd. in 2). 

I admit that is a question I often ask myself: where are those "friends of truth and promoters of freedom" in the U.S.? They seem to shine by their absence. 

 

Intention of the book: 

"Our History Has Always Been Contraband is intended for students, educators, and policy makers, as well as general readers interested in the subject and seeking to understand then politics behind the current attack on critical education. The readings are by no means meant to be comprehensive or representative of what is truly a vast interdisciplinary field. We deliberately selected texts and authors who had been excluded from the AP African American Studies curriculum, as well as a few canonical texts in African American Studies appropriate for high school students" (4).

Carter G. Woodson, on how White supremacists and other racist enemies of freedom sought to keep Blacks enslaved through their minds. This remains so relevant today for Blacks (and other ethnic groups in the U.S.): 

"If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one" (42). 

James Baldwin on education: 

"The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then to learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity. But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around. What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society, If a society succeeds in this, that society is about to perish. The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it-- at no matter the risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies change" (53).

Karl Marx, in 1844, on how criticism needs to be ruthless, a principle that guided Robin D.G. Kelley and other activists: 

". . . --I am speaking of a ruthless criticism of everything existing, ruthless in two senses: The criticism must not be afraid of its own conclusions, nor of any conflict with the powers that be" (qtd. in 138). 

Kelley then tells us reading should not have limits in studying and learning. For me, also reminds me that you need to read your enemies to understand them so you can take their ideas apart: 

"As self-styled activist-intellectuals, it never occurred to us to refuse to read a text simply because it validated the racism, sexism, free-market ideology, and bourgeois liberalism against which we railed. Nothing was off limits. On the contrary, delving into these works only sharpened our critical faculties" (138). 

 

This book qualifies for the following 2024 Reading Challenge: 

 

Signs the Economy is Bad: July 9, 2021 edition

 Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.

 

 

Let's have a look at what we found this week. Among other things featuring wee woo wagons, payola, and snow leopard poo this week.  

Education News

•  In a moment of "I can't imagine why" it turns out that a lot more superintendents are quitting their jobs. Via The Rural Blog. I am willing to bet that pressures of keeping things in some degree of stability in the hellscape that has become the U.S. under the pandemic is driving this situation. As it often happens in the field of school education, one factor driving the superintendents to quit are the whiny often self entitled parents making their work more difficult. That is something superintendents share in common with classroom teachers: the often pain in the ass parents who love to whine but would never dream of stepping into a classroom to teach themselves. I know; I was a school teacher once. Another issue is that once those superintendents leave, it is extremely hard to find a replacement. 
• Ithaka S+R has a new report out on the "Big Deal." For folks outside academia and especially academic libraries, "big deal" often refers to the deals libraries have to make with the monopolistic publishing pillagers who own the journals needed for research where faculty (unpaid) also need to publish (that is another story). For folks who need a quick overview: Big deals "enabled academic libraries of all sizes to license bundled access to a publisher’s journal at a significant discount off the list prices. Over the years, as Big Deal spending has come to occupy a greater and greater share of materials budgets, libraries have come to question the value of their Big Deal subscriptions, with some opting to cancel or significantly alter their existing arrangements." 
• In a nutshell, costs of these subscriptions have grown obscenely to the point they are become unsustainable, and publishing companies could not care less as they keep basically pricing themselves out. In my small campus, for the most part, we are looking at anything and everything we can cut in order to save money, we are buying less books and media because we have to sustain the damn periodical subscriptions, and well, something has to give. This is not something I often talk about, and to be honest, talking about it would be better suited for my professional blog, but it is an important issue and concern. That is why it qualifies as one of the signs the economy is bad. Then again, higher education media mostly focuses on large R-1's (that is Research-1 institutions in the Carnegie scale for those of you not in academia, i.e. "the big boys") when one of them finally does a massive cancellation. A small place like mine is really under their radar. I am highlighting the Ithaka S+R report now, but it is one I need to read deeper, and I think others in academia, especially in academic libraries, need to read as well. 
• In what is a given that many took for granted, CNN noticed that yes, many people did turn to public libraries during the pandemic. They then ask if said libraries will get some credit. Let me save you a click on that: the answer is no. People either take public libraries for granted, thinking they will always be there, or they constantly bitch and moan about how they do not want their taxes to pay for public libraries that deadbeats and homeless bums inhabit. Those latter folks are the ones who usually brag they just buy their books from the Big A. At any rate, libraries often were declared essential services and remained open to the best of their ability despite the pandemic. Librarians and library staff often risked their lives while self entitled COVIDIOTS refused to wear masks or socially distance or show any consideration while using said libraries. When the library buildings did close in some places, those libraries still offered curbside services and online options. Overall, libraries went and continue to go above and beyond the call of duty serving both appreciative people as well as ungrateful assholes who brag they'd love to burn the library down on social media while using their local library's free wifi. 
• On a side note, I was declared essential at my library, so I worked through the pandemic. We did offer and continue to offer an array of virtual services for our students and academic community. I will say that yes, very often I did feel very much taken for granted (but again, that is another story). 
• On another side note, science fiction writer John Scalzi, who is very well off, wrote his personal history of libraries and towards the end of the essay he makes the point of why he, as a wealthy person, wants public libraries to still exist even as he himself might not need them anymore (or need them less than he used to). It is worth reading. By the way, one of these days I should write my own personal history of libraries, but that is another time. 
• In the Library With a Lead Pipe has a piece on "Service Ceiling: the High Cost of Professional Development for Academic Librarians." This is one I wanted to highlight, but I admit have not had time to reflect on it as much as I would like. I can tell you though as an academic librarian myself that said cost is often high and often obscenely prohibitive. I feel bad for academic librarians with service requirements that force them to go to expensive conferences and such with little or no institutional support, which means they often have to pay out of their meager pay to keep their jobs. That is just wrong. This is another of those things I could write a bit more about in the professional blog, but I just do not have the time now. But it is a sign of the bad economy, even if most people outside academia have no idea. Although this is not unlike public schools that force their teachers to also do professional development out of pocket and buy their own school supplies out of pocket, but that is another story. 
• Via the Chronicle of Higher Education, a concern about MIT and Harvard selling out edX, a course management platform, to private interests. The edX company was nonprofit, well, those days will be gone. This falls under one of those things that was possibly a public good being privatized, which means most likely the emphasis now shifts from serving students online to maximizing shareholder value, whatever that is.
  

 

 

 

Rural News

•  Via NPR, a report that "rural emergency medical services are at risk as volunteers age and expenses mount." They may be volunteers, but rest assured, if I need a wee woo wagon, they are certainly going to bill me an obscene price for that ride. Odds are that money goes anywhere in the insurance bureaucracy and nowhere near the ambulance service. Anyhow, the big issues is EMT retirements with no replacements in sight and for many rural small areas the service is too expensive to operate.
  

Government News

•  If you wonder what the U.S. Government does with your taxes, well, the Biden administration is proposing to spend 1.3 trillion (yes, that is trillion with a "t") on defense and nuclear weaponry. Story via Scheerpost. Because the president of the party that is, allegedly (LOL) supposed to care for things in the common good is basically proposing the largest historically speaking budget for defense. We have a pandemic, a literal bad economy, all sorts of social issues but the milquetoast Republican Lite centrist is laying it on thick for defense, military, and nuclear weapons spending. Well, at least it keeps the military industrial complex employed. 
• On a side note, I am reminded of this quote from Joe Haldeman's The Forever War:“The most important fact about the war to most people was that if it ended suddenly, Earth’s economy would collapse.”
•  Meanwhile, Medicare might not be able to do basic things like negotiate for decent drug prescription pricing for the people it covers, but it is spending quite a bit on drugs that do direct to consumer advertising. Report via the GAO (Government Accountability Office).
  

 

 

 Health and Medical News

•  Via Al Jazeera, reports that Walmart is launching a "low-priced" in house brand of analog insulin. "Low price" is used loosely given their proposal for "analog insulin vials that sell for $72.88 and a FlexPen priced at $85.88." It may be cheaper than corporate options now, but affordable for many not really no matter how they spin it. 
• In news that are not really surprising, device makers are engaged in some serious payola to orthopedic surgeons to get them to use their products when doing surgeries. Via Salon. This is the kind of thing seen before with pharmaceutical companies and their drug reps "visiting" doctors to promote their drugs and get them to prescribe them. In an extreme, that was one way the opioid epidemic got so bad: certain companies aggressively pushing for doctors to prescribe their products. So this new story is just another variant on that. How do some of the payments work? "These payments come in various forms, from royalties for helping to design implants to speakers' fees for promoting devices at medical meetings to stock holdings in exchange for consulting work, according to government data." So if you need a hip replacement, you may want to inquire deeper if your surgeon is using a reasonably priced product or just whatever he is paid to put in you.
• In other medical rip offs, 1 in 5 families report getting surprise bills after childbirth. Story via UPI. This can happen, for instance, if you go to you in insurance network hospital, but say your little lady needs (or really wants her epidural/anesthesia, and you are not about to tell her to go natural because you want to walk out of the hospital alive), and they bring in some doctor from outside the network to do it, and the mofo hospital does not put it in the bill, so the doctor bills you separately, and surprise. You had no fucking idea this was going to cost you more, and you thought your insurance picked it up in network. Surprise.
  

 

 

The Bad Economy Around the World

 

•  The United Nations reports that COVID-19's impact on tourism around the world could be upwards of $4 trillion in losses. 
• Speaking of hospital fuckery (oops, entrepreneurial initiatives), The Guardian reports on how U.S. private hospitals, dens of expensive medical for profit fuckery (yea, I am saying it now) are eyeing opening locations abroad, this time in Great Britain. Because that is just what a country with relatively decent national universal care needs: private hospitals trying to gauge people for medical services. 
• In some places, senior citizens bag groceries in order to make a few extra bucks. Well, not happening anymore in Mexico's Walmarts as they basically told their senior baggers, who by the way work on tips, i.e. Walmart does not employ nor pay them, to take a hike. Story via Al Jazeera. Walmart is spinning it as blaming the pandemic and "consumer's changing shopping habits." Uh huh. 
• Meanwhile in Venice the locals struggle with the tourist economy. Story via Hyperallergic. The big conflict is that the city is seriously dependent on tourism, but the problem is tourism related jobs pay little, to the point that locals are barely able to afford living there. 
• Out in Japan, here is another way to tell the economy is bad and the world is in trouble due to things like climate change: look at snow leopards' poo. Story via UPI. In Japan, researchers have found an easier way to measure snow leopard stress by analyzing their fecal matter with an new quicker analysis technology. Why is this important? "Environmental stressors, like rising temperatures, disappearing glaciers and poaching, can negatively impact snow leopard health."
  

 

Signs the economy is bad: September 11, 2020 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.

Another week, and another series of signs that the economy is bad. I found a lot of stuff in education and miscellaneous iterms this week, so. . .

Education News

 

•  According to this report via UPI, school closures in the U.S. may cost the economy more than $15 trillion. Yes, that is trillion with a "t". 
• Meanwhile, in the U.S. many children go hungry due to those school closures. Many public schools are struggling to do their best to keep many of those students fed. Story via NPR. 
• However, the issue is complicated due to various issues that school cafeteria workers face due to COVID-19. Story via The Atlantic. Among other issues, cafeteria workers are often senior citizens, which puts them in the vulnerable category. 
• Across the pond, The Guardian reports that one in four students are unable to access online learning during lockdowns. I get the feeling it may not be better here in the United States, but I would need to check to make sure. 
• As if things were not bad enough in the job market, college graduates who thought they were good to go with a job offer are finding that companies are now rescinding said offers. Story via VICE. 
• The public often gripes at libraries not having everything they wish they could get. This applies to e-books, where many people think we can just get them from Kindle for cheap prices like they do at home. The reality is very different, and in a nutshell, publishers are basically price gouging libraries for those e-books. RA for All has an explanation of the issue to help people see the reality. You may want to take some time to educate yourselves, and it would be nice if you then help advocate for libraries more.
  

Health and Medical News

• In the United States, the issue of what happens if a medical catastrophe happens to the average person has always been a serious concern. If a disease or medical disaster does not kill you, the outrageous medical bills will probably send someone to the grave or bankruptcy if they are lucky. This issue has been made worse now by the pandemic, especially if you lose your income. Story via Salon. There is something to be said for having a universal health care system, like most of the civilized world already has, but Americans are always notorious for two things: bitching about paying taxes (even if said taxes would contribute to the public good and their own well being) and not giving a shit about their fellow human being (the old "I've got mine, so fuck you Jack")

 

The Bad Economy  Around the World

•  The Chinese are finding that the service sector is the new driver in their economy. Story via Telesur. This caught my eye in part because the service sector has been the economic driver in the United States for quite a while, and well, let's just say that has not worked out as well as some higher ups planned; oh, it worked fine for the higher ups doing the exploiting, not so much for all those service workers. 
• Meanwhile, over in Ireland, due to COVID-19, half their pubs are shut down. Story via The Spirits Business. 
• In Great Britain, retailers worry that return to work that is starting to happen may be too late to save many retailers. Story via The Guardian.
  

 

                                                    In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  NPR reports on findings from a poll that the pandemic is putting nearly half of U.S. households at risk. Oh hun, it is not just the disease. It is the financial disasters that come along with COVID-19. 
• As if that was not bad enough, NPR also reports that nearly half of day care centers in the U.S. could be lost due to the pandemic. 
• Salon reports about the plight of cleaning ladies due to the pandemic. This affects immigrant women particularly hard. However, I find it a bit hard to be sympathetic to the profiled employer in the story, who is an immigrant herself and to be honest is mostly exploiting undocumented women to keep her cleaning business running. I feel for the undocumented women, but not so much for the employer. This exploitation issue is not new; it's just that COVID-19 has made it worse and brought it more into the open. 
• As many people are aware of by now, the Pendejo In Chief and the Party of Stupid hate the U.S. Postal Service, and they are doing their worst to try to eliminate it despite it being an essential service to the nation. One group of people this move hurts is independent musicians and music labels that rely on the USPS to deliver their goods. Story via Rolling Stone. 
• In Texas, I am sure there will be mourning as that fine cafeteria institution Luby's is likely to close down for good. Story via Dallas Observer.
  

                                                          Hustlin' in the Bad Economy

Usually I use this segment to highlight small people and small businesses that get creative in the Bad Economy. However, some big guys are also hustlin' in the Bad Economy though not in a good way. Still, one has to admire their chutzpah in making a buck or two in the Bad Economy. 

• The Miami Herald reports on a new study that finds those school shooting drills that have become a normal part of schools may do more harm than good. However, there is a whole industry making money out of those drills. As the article states, "Meanwhile, for-profit companies charge schools thousands of dollars for the training, making the active shooter drill industry worth an estimated $2.7 billion — 'all in pursuit of a practice that, to date, is not evidence-based,' according to the researchers." 
• Speaking of guns and firearms, that industry is on pace to exceed sales from 2019 in 2020, and this year still has four months to go. That comes from a story out of The Washington Examiner. How good are sales you might ask? "Sales have been so brisk this year that many shelves in gun stores are bare. What's more, ammunition is hard to find." 
• By the way, Smith and Wesson is also reporting that their sales are booming. Story via The Epoch Times. 
• Another industry that is doing well suddenly is the camping and outdoors goods business. Story via NPR. Why? In large part because a lot of people who would usually book vacations to faraway places, plane travel, trips to amusement parks and such suddenly can't do that due to the virus. What they are finding they can do is go camping, kayaking, so on at a local park and/or lake. So there is a run on outdoor equipment. People find some entertainment wherever they can. 
• Over in France, a book has the old dilemma of not doing that well on sales, or at least it is doing OK but no big deal. How do you get some sales to go up? Well, if you get a government official to call for a ban on your book, that usually does the trick nicely. Story via The Guardian.
  

Uber Rich

• Finally for this week, a look at the world of the uber rich that you and me can only read about and imagine. The uber rich may be feeling a bit of a pinch in the pandemic times, at least in the art world. It turns out that the fine art trade, you know, buying, selling fine art, having auctions, parties, receptions, has slowed to almost a halt due to the pandemic. Story via Departures.
  

Booknote: Words Onscreen

Naomi S. Baron, Words Onscreen: the Fate of Reading in a Digital World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780199315765.

 

Genre: nonfiction

Subgenre: reading, books, library science, literacy, technology, education

Format: hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College. It was recommended by a colleague.

 

This book looks at research on reading and how digital texts and devices can and do affect reading ability and habits. The book is arranged as follows: 

• A preface.
• Ten chapters.
• Acknowledgements, notes, and references. 

 

Baron looks at topics such as: texts going digital, how writing is reshaped digitally, physicality of reading, and the future of reading in a digital world. Baron finds that yes, reading digitally is different than reading in print. In simple terms, Baron shows with research that those who read digitally read less deeply and in a less focused way. This has implications for education. One consideration is for higher education where many schools are embracing e-book textbooks to lower costs for students. At least, that is the claim. If you ask some of our students in our campus here, e-book textbooks can be as expensive as print, but that is another subject for another time.  This is where open textbooks are hailed as a cost effective alternative, but again, at what cost to reading skill and focus? Baron looks at this and other reading topics. 

The book covers a lot of ground while keeping the focus on the act of reading. The book looks at various research studies, including Baron's own work, along with stories from various readers. The book itself is interesting, and it is a pretty easy read. This is a book that librarians and educators should read and consider the findings presented. I really liked it and recommend it.

4 out of 5 stars. 

* * * * * 

Additional reading notes: 

What the book asks: 

"Words Onscreen asks if digital reading is reshaping our understanding of what it means to read. The question sounds amorphous, but it has tangible substance and equally real fallout. I will argue that digital reading is fine for many short pieces or for light content we don't intend to analyze or reread. However, if eReading is less well suited for many longer works on ever for short ones requiring serious thought, what happens to reading if we shift from print to screens? Will some of the uses of reading (and, for that matter, writing) fall by the wayside? If so, with what implications for education, culture, and ourselves?" (xii). 

On PowerPoint: 

PowerPoint has had a cumulative effect on how we read onscreen. Experience with the program is leading us to expect that text accessed on any digital device is ephemeral. But (you may be saying), if a person wants to preserve some of that online content in durable form, why not print it out? Too often my answer is, 'Lots of luck'" (99). 

As if you did not have enough reasons to hate Amazon, Kindle, and other eReader services. This is an issue that concerns me, but there is little I can do about it short of just not using ebooks at all, which neither personally not professionally is a realistic option for me: 

"If you are a Kindle reader (or, increasingly these days, a user of almost any eReader), your privacy is compromised at the corporate level. Someone can track every time you open an eBook, every time you turn one of its pages, every time you make an annotation. Here the social reading relationship is not one you asked for but part of the Faustian bargain for reading onscreen" (130). 

More on privacy concerns: 

"What privacy do today's readers have? Given the ubiquity of credit cards, few of us think twice when we swipe our plastic at the physical or virtual register. For print books, at least we retain the option of using cash in a face-to-face transaction (assuming we have the time and shoe leather to track down what we are looking for in a brick-and-mortar store). With eBooks, all privacy bets are off. Someone knows everything you have bought. Amazon and its competitors also have a pretty good sense of what you've read, since they can trace each page you access. And if you take advantage of such handy features as highlighting, underlining, and jotting notes, every make you make is likely in their database" (150). 

 

 

Main purpose of the book: 

 

"The main purpose of this book is to move beyond arguments of nostalgia and habit to figuring out what it is about print and digital platforms that leads us to read on them in particular ways. But another goal is to understand the potential consequences of driving reading from print to screens. As we have seen, one effect seems to be privileging the search for data or information over reading for continuity of argument and reflection.  In the process, we steer readers (and authors) away from long-form writing to shorter pieces. And we replace the notion of owned, tangible documents with ephemeral access" (153). 

Why we need students able to do complex reading: 

"If we want students to be responsible voting citizens, they must be able to grapple with the issues, not just press an electronic lever. If we want them to be active participants in society, they have to understand its cultural and historical underpinnings, including its nuances. And for that, you need to do serious, roll-up-your-sleeves, focus-on-what-you're-doing reading" (168). 

Some books from the references list for my TBR list: 

• Adler, Mortimer, How to read a book. 
• Carr, Nicholas, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains.
• Chabris and Simons, The Invisible Gorilla: How our Institutions Deceive Us. 
• Jacobs, Alan, Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. 
• McGuire and O'Leary, Book: a Futurist's Manifesto. 
• Miedema, John, Slow Reading. 
• Mikics, David, Slow Reading in a Hurried Age.
• Piper, Andrew, Book was There: Reading in Electronic Times. 
• Radway, Janice A.,  A Feeling for Books: the Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle Class Desire.
• Turkle, Sherry, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other. 
• Ulin, David,  Lost Art of Reading.

 

* * * * * 

This book qualifies for the following 2020 Reading Challenge: 

 

 

Signs the economy is bad: July 31, 2020 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.


Welcome to another edition. This week I found a good amount of miscellaneous news, so let's have a look. 

Education News

•  In what can only be described as some serious classist and possibly racist fuckery, a new survey reveals broad differences in remote teaching for low income children versus high income children. Via Hechinger Report. In a nutshell: "Instead of hours per day, the survey revealed that it was how students were being taught that clearly varied by income. Low-income schools spent considerably more time reviewing old content. Wealthier schools were more likely to teach new material. " And that is not all. 
• Meanwhile, college towns, which depend on college students for a lot of their economy despite bitching about college students, are having to adapt and make do with less students (or none if a college completely shut down for the fall). Story via Inc.

Rural News

•  In West Virginia, a new report finds that due to tight town budgets and summer activities closing down due to COVID-19 that more children are eating poorly. Furthermore, "According to Save the Children, one in five children in West Virginia are food insecure, Knisely reports." Story via The Rural Blog

Meanwhile back in the US colony

• Back in Puerto Rico, thousands are STILL without housing since Hurricane Maria. Via Latino Rebels. For the record, it has been almost three years since Hurricane Maria hit the island. How bad is it? The recently appointed local housing secretary admits, “We’re not going to be finished for years."

In Other News of the Bad Economy

•  As if children going hungry due to the pandemic and closures was not bad enough, stress over child care is also causing problems for parents. Story via UPI. In sum, ""The pandemic exposes how fractured the safety net is for American families." Not that the Party of Stupid and their current leader would care about something like that. 
• The Atlantic reports that more people are postponing marriage due to the pandemic. It is just not economically viable for many. 
• At home cooking is messing up U.S. farms. Story via Boing Boing. You would think that cooking at home would be a good and desirable thing. People eat at home, make their own meals, perhaps eat healthier even. The issue is that many farms are geared to sell their produce to restaurants and food service. When restaurants and food service closed down due to the pandemic, they could not easily switch gears to cater to at home cooks. When you think about it, that is a bit of a sad comment about U.S. farming as well as consumers. 
• After Walmart announced it is not opening for Thanksgiving this year, due to the pandemic, a few other retailers are following. Story via Inc. Let's be honest, aside from the fact that they are extending sales longer and sooner than Black Friday is to get people to keep on shopping. They will get people's money one way or another. 
• In culture and the bad economy because, who needs culture anyhow in the United States?
• NPR reports on a new survey showing that 1/3 of museums in the U.S. may not survive the pandemic. 
• Publishers Weekly reports that bookstore sales in May went further down.
• In rural towns, may be harder to see the local production of Little Orphan Annie or whatever as community theaters are struggling to survive in the pandemic. Via The Daily Yonder. We have a small community theater here that to be honest I have no idea if it will survive the pandemic or not. 
• In a different track, read via Latino Rebels how Mexican remittances, the money Mexican immigrants here in the U.S. send back home to Mexico, are also affected by the pandemic. The problem is that they are sending less money back home, but that is not the only issue, so check the story out. 
• This is not so much a bad sign, though it could be, as it is something I found interesting. Hard seltzer sales are going up and up. Story via Spirits Business. There is a desire among some folks for low alcohol proof drinks, and these hard seltzers seem to do the trick.

Uber Rich

• Jeff Bezos has the gall to claim that he has no idea how often or how bad his company Amazon rips off third party sellers. Via VICE. I think we need to make a clear distinction here. It is not that he does not know. It is that he does not want to know since he still profits from it. Big difference.

Signs the economy is bad: July 24, 2020 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.


Once more, welcome to another edition. Let's see what we got this week.  Not too many items, so let's get on with it.

Education News

•  As schools still struggle to decide whether to open for the fall or not, or open in what capacity if any, parents are seriously concerned about their jobs, if they still have one, and child care. Via The Hechinger Report.  There is something to be said for the fact that schools, institutions for education, are more basically babysitters so parents can go to work because in the Bad Economy both parents do have to work to keep food on the table. So when schools get disrupted, that precarious plan of parents working gets messed up as well. Then again, my sympathy only goes so far since more often than not many of those parents degrade and are outright hostile to schools and funding them properly. So suddenly, when the shit hits the fan they are all "OMG, we need those schools to open" without much regard for the teachers who will risk their lives to care and teach for their demon spawns. And let's not even get started on the total disregard for other school staff like, oh, say, the janitors who have to sanitize the whole thing.

The Bad Economy  Around the World 

•  In Hong Kong, under the stairs shops, small mom and pop stores in the city, often kept by residents of a building to help them pay rent, are disappearing. They are becoming a victim of redevelopment (i.e. getting gentrified it seems). Story via Al Jazeera.

  

In Other News of the Bad Economy

• Well, child hunger is up in the United States. Via The Rural Blog. Probably because feeding children is not quite a priority in the U.S., kind of goes along with not funding schools properly and other things for the common good. 
• Do you live in the U.S.? Do you need an affordable modest car because, you know, you pretty much need a car for things like getting to work? You can't afford a giant truck or gas guzzling SUV? Well, you are up shit's creek because car companies are basically phasing out small subcompact cars that used to be the affordable option. Via VICE. It is not necessarily that they are stopping production and not making them at all. They are just NOT making them for the U.S. market. You can go to any other part of the world and still find them, but in the U.S. where people really need a car, because public transportation is laughable where it may exist, well, as I said, shit's creek.
• If things keep going the way they are, we are probably not going to see polar bears much longer. Story via VICE. By the way, this is not something in the far off future. Polar bears can go extinct in 80 years or so. 
• As we all know, the Bad Economy and the pandemic have hit small businesses hard. The U.S. government has been pretty inefficient (read here they helped their rich buddies instead) in helping small businesses out. However, in some small good news Country Time, the lemonade people, decided to help their own and they are offering bailouts for children's lemonade stands. Story via ABC 30. This is not a joke. Read the story for details, deadline to apply is August 12, 2020.

Hustlin' in the Bad Economy

• The illicit drug trade is one where you definitely need to hustle and be creative to keep the money rolling in. The latest smuggling scheme? In Italy, police intercepted a shipment of cocaine smuggled inside hollowed out coffee beans. Via Boing Boing. So many questions. One, who looked at a coffee bean and said, yep, we can smuggle cocaine in these little babies? Two, who got stuck with the job of hollowing out all those coffee beans? 
• Restaurants have been hit very hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as they gradually reopen, they still need workers. It turns out that in addition to the usual workers, like cooks and waiters, restaurants may need a few new types of worker. So if you need a job, this may be an option, or if you already work in a restaurant, some of this may become extra duties. Story via Departures.

Signs the economy is bad: June 26, 2020 edition

Welcome to another edition of "Signs the Economy is Bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. This is the semi-regular (as in when I have time and/or feel like doing it) feature where I scour the Internet in search of the oh so subtle hints that the economy is bad. Sure, pundits may say things are getting better, but what do they know? And to show not all is bad, once in a while we look at how good the uber rich have it.

Welcome once more to another edition of "Signs the economy is bad" here at The Itinerant Librarian. Usually I do not post this series as often as I have done this month, but the stories just keep piling in, and I do my best to find the ones that may actually be interesting and give you those oh so subtle hints the economy is bad. Yes, there is a pandemic going on wreaking havoc. That is a given. It's the things not many think about that can be a real problem like the stories I got for you this week. Read on.

Education News

• This story really caught my eye. As grade schools are gearing back up to reopen in various places for the fall, here is a Magnificent Question: who is going to drive the school buses? Story via  Hechinger Report. This we need to think about a bit. Keep in mind that many school drivers are often senior citizens. For many of them, the bus gig is work they do after they retire from whatever job they had, a way to supplement late in life income. Whether they do it as a supplement or because they need the job, the fact is seniors do fall into the vulnerable population, and bus drivers spend a lot of contact time with snot nosed kids, including sick kids that parents send to school anyhow when they should not be sending them. Now, if a good number of those senior citizens decide, for their own health, to not return to their jobs, we are back who is going to drive the school buses? And that is just the first of various questions this article asks. Oh well, "the wheels on the bus go round and round. . . ." 
• On the other hand, what would happen if schools closed down for good? Hechinger Report asks that question, but they do point out that kind of scenario has happened before. When? In many urban neighborhoods where minority communities lost their community schools. The difference now is that due to the virus a bunch of White people are going to be more than inconvenienced when they need to get back to work, and they can't send their kids to school. See, when it was just in the urban areas of people of color, not many outside those communities gave a fuck. Now that the virus reveals the possibility that schools in other more privileged areas may close for good (or at least for a very long term), well, guess what? It may get some attention. Because heaven forbid parents who need to work can't send their little hellions out of the house to school. 
• A new study finds that COVID-19 has really hurt college students. Story via Inside Higher Ed, and it is one of those stories that honestly makes me wonder that we needed a study to state what is pretty obvious.

Rural News

•  By the way, that story about schools that may not be opening after all, could make things worse in rural areas? Why? Because rural areas are often child care deserts which means it is more difficult to find good child care there. Story via The Rural Blog. Plus if that was not bad enough, many child care facilities have been closing down, some permanently, due to the virus. 
• In addition, if you live in a rural area, and you get a stroke, your survival rate is going to be low. Story via The Rural Blog.  "The researchers found that the more rural the hospital, the higher the mortality rate, with 27 percent of patients in the most rural areas dying. They also found that more rural patients were less likely to get either of two advanced stroke treatments." In addition, rural hospitals often fail to realize what the fuck is going on, or if they do, can't or won't transfer patients to larger, more advanced hospitals where these patients could get the care they need that the rural hospital lacks.

 

Government News

•  Because the U.S, in the middle of an effing pandemic, is still arguing with the Europeans over aircraft subsidies over there, the U.S. government is considering raising tariffs on European products like gin, vodka, and other spirits. . . again. Story via The Spirits Business. The problem with that, or a problem close to home, is that the Europeans then do retaliate, which means they impose their own tariffs on things like Bourbon and American whiskey. That is bad news for many American distillers, especially small ones that do depend a lot on exporting their product abroad.

The Bad Economy  Around the World 

•  In Chile, the virus is certainly wreaking havoc. However, one business is booming: mass producing caskets. Story via Latino Rebels. I honestly wonder how long before we start hearing in the U.S. that casket production is ramping up. Knowing Americans, they'll probably import them from some "Third World" country. Well, after making that joke, I decided to look a bit into where do people get caskets from in the United States. According to this story from 2015, "90 percent of burials in the US are in coffins made in America. " Story via PRI. The story also points out that sellers have attempted to sell caskets made in China, which would be a lot cheaper, but so far, when it comes to their caskets, Americans still do want "Made in the USA." Now, having said, given the Bad Economy, and now made worse by the virus, I do wonder if that resistance will loosen up in favor of cheaper casket (or burial in general) alternatives. We shall see.

In Other News of the Bad Economy

• Things are so bad women are rethinking whether they should have children or not. Story via NPR. That is always a bad sign in the economy when fertility drops. 
• While I always try to advocate good health as much as possible, this came across a bit more as First World Problem, the kind of thing concern trolls worry about. It seems diet critics are oh so worried now that people stuck inside in a pandemic may be snacking a bit too much. Story via VICE. While there may be some truth to that, two things. One: we are in a damn pandemic. Let people eat their chips and ice cream in peace, fuck off. Two, and this is the important point that the critics all conveniently forget: ". . .largely ignores one of the biggest motivators behind buying processed foods over 'whole ingredients': Processed food is cheap, and we are in an economic crisis." So unless you critics are ready to actually do something (and I mean something substantial in terms of policy, structure, etc, other than bitch and moan) about issues like cheap processed food, expensive as fuck basic ingredients, and food deserts, y'all need to just shut the fuck up and let people graze in peace. Now excuse me while I go get a can of sour cream and onion flavored Pringles to munch on while I keep typing this post.

Hustlin' in the Bad Economy

•  Finally, for this week, many businesses are gradually reopening. Given the virus, some of them have to get a bit more creative to maintain things like social distancing. One of the businesses that is having to get creative is strip clubs. Story via VICE. What do the dancers do when they make a lot of money on lap dances and suddenly you can't be doing that anymore? In addition, some of them are choosing to have outdoor seating much like restaurants are doing in many places. It's going to take some ingenuity and hustlin' to make it work, but make it work they will.