Celebrities Will Lend Voices To PBS’s The Great American Read
Publishing and entertainment celebrities including Junot Díaz, Margaret Atwood, George R.R. Martin, and Gaye King will share personal stories about their favorite books as part of PBS’s eight-part TV competition. The series will launch with a two hour special on May 22 on PBS stations. Viewers will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite books over the 15 weeks the show airs. PBS said the list of 100 titles competing will be chosen from a “demographically representative national survey.”
Garbage Collectors Open Public Library In Turkey
Garbage collectors in Turkey have opened a library stocked with books that would have ended up in landfills. The Ankara public library came into existence after sanitation workers started collecting discarded books. Residents have begun donating books directly to the library, which currently has over 6,000 books, including a children’s section and a section for scientific research.
One Million Moms Threatens To Boycott Scholastic For Publishing LGBTQ Kids Books
One Million Moms asked its supporters to notify Scholastic that they’d boycott the company unless it stops “publishing and promoting pro-homosexual and pro-transgender books for children.” The conservative advocacy group took particular issue with George, a middle grade book about a transgender child written by queer writer Alex Gino. In an NPR interview, Gino said they wrote the book in hopes it would help transgender kids feel less alone.