Good morning. I want to share with you a moving collection of interviews with American librarians. But first, let’s get caught up on news about Cornell University’s investigation into an alleged rape at a fraternity house.
In IthacaThis case has reverberated across the nation, provoking shock and anger and engulfing Cornell in crisis. Here’s the latest.
In the stacks“My library is an archive of longings,” Susan Sontag wrote in her journal more than 40 years ago. It’s one of those lines that people like me see in a book — her son, David Rieff, published it in a collection of her journals — and write down in a notebook of their own as something to remember, to think about. Because all libraries are archives of longing: places to imagine, to investigate, to escape. They’re where the information is. They’re where people can go to dream, to plan, to think and above all to learn. Librarians make that possible. John Maher and Elisabeth Egan, colleagues on The New York Times Book Review, interviewed dozens of them this summer, asking about their jobs and lives and discussing what they provide and need to survive. Here’s what they told us. What does it mean to be a librarian in the United States right now? Librarians are defenders of democracy. We’re defenders of the freedom to read. We’re protectors of patron privacy. Libraries are one of the few places in this surveillance economy that are not trying to collect and sell your data to come and use our facilities. — Ed Garcia, Cranston, R.I., Cranston Public Library We’re a caring profession. We’re supposed to be helping people, not advocating. — Tamika Barnes, Atlanta, Georgia State University Library What challenges do libraries face today? Restricted access to information — whether that is book bans, or if people can’t get to a certain location, or if they’re immigrants or new Americans and they don’t even know exactly what a public library is. — Joan Firestein, Baltimore County, Md., Baltimore County Public Library The loudest voices in the room seem to be people that don’t like libraries. They’re the ones showing up to board meetings complaining about the books they don’t like. Some libraries are being defunded entirely. I don’t think most communities really want that. I don’t even think most conservative communities want that. I see a lot of home-school families with conservative backgrounds, and they’re using the library every day. — Holly Eberle, Algonquin, Ill., Algonquin Area Public Library District What were your most memorable interactions with people? A gentleman who had retired needed to go back to work. He did not have email, didn’t have a phone but knew he wanted to be a part-time cart pusher at Walmart because he could walk there and it would supplement his Social Security income. He came in, and we worked with him one day a week for about an hour. He would come back every now and again to check his email and then he stopped showing up. I went three, four months not knowing what happened to him. Then I went to Walmart one day and saw him pushing carts. He called me over and said, Hey, I got the job. — Conrrado Saldivar, Natrona, Wyo., Natrona County Library What would librarians do with $10,000 more in their budgets? I could completely overhaul my nonfiction section. When I started 10 years ago, a paperback was $4.99 or $5.99, and they are $9.99 or $10.99 now. Picture book hardcovers used to be $14 or $15, and now they’re at least $19 or $20. My budget has stayed stagnant or gone down, and book prices have only gone up. We still have Pluto books — Pluto doesn’t even exist as a planet anymore! With $10,000, I could buy every brand-new book that year. $10,000 feels like the moon. — Shawna Dees, Roseville, Minn., Roseville Area Schools What do they wish we knew about running a library? We are, in fact, educators. We don’t just sit behind the desk. We do more than just check out books. We educate the whole person. And we don’t know all the answers, but we can show you where to find the answers. — LeeSa McGhee, Milwaukee, Clarke Street School, Milwaukee Public Schools There’s so much more they told our reporters. And don’t sleep on the comments section!
War in Ukraine
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Joe Biden’s administration struggled to earn trust. The Trump administration is making the same errors, Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s White House press secretary, argues. A.I. is technology. Stop talking to it like it’s human, a researcher argues. Friendships that are less active can still be strong ones, a psychologist writes. The Anniversary Sale ends soon: Morning readers, enjoy our best offer. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your interests with expert coverage of news, culture, business and more. Save now: $1/week for your first year.
Oxford Street: Look at these historic photos of London’s famous shopping road. A.I.: People in China are using chatbots for entertainment, relationships and farming advice. The government is trying to set limits. Is Claude conscious? Some people at Anthropic are trying to convince religious leaders it could be. Click the video below to watch.
270— That is at least how many Catholic clerics abused nearly 1,000 children over a century across three Massachusetts dioceses, according to a report released this week by the state attorney general. Read about the investigation.
M.L.B.: The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 in the decisive Game 3 of their National League Wild Card series. W.N.B.A.: A’ja Wilson had 36 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Las Vegas Aces to a 94-83 closeout win over Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. N.F.L.: Deshaun Watson led another go-ahead, fourth-quarter drive for the Cleveland Browns, who edged the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24.
Taco soup has about as much to do with traditional Mexican cuisine as Dr Pepper has business with the C.D.C., but it’s still plenty delicious. Inspired by the hard-shell tacos filled with ground beef you may have eaten in middle school, but made grown-up with fire-roasted tomatoes, green chiles and jalapeños, it’ll provide a warm and cozy welcome to the weekend. Go wild with the toppings: Chopped avocado, pickled red onion, grated Cheddar, pickled jalapeños, sour cream, tortilla chips and lime wedges are all, to my mind, mandatory. Check out this recipe.
Miranda Lambert has been a country superstar for more than two decades, a self-described “gun-toting redneck” with songs — “Gunpowder & Lead,” “Kerosene” — to match. She came to The Times recently, poured herself a mug of “charm juice” (Tito’s and soda) and spoke with the “Popcast” hosts Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli about country music’s long-running cold war with female performers, the surrender of old grudges and the payoff of being “unmanageable.” It’s great. She produced “Choosin’ Texas” for Ella Langley! They talk about the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
