Can Someone Be Too Bookish? (Asking For a Friend)

Sponsored by Scaredy Cat, published by Jimmy Patterson Books

When shelter cats Pasha and Poop move in with their new human family, they find themselves up against a ghostly bully. Scaredy Cat demands they follow his rules or he’ll cause all kinds of trouble-knock over lamps, spill kitty litter, and even get them shipped back to the animal shelter! But Pasha and Poop are stubborn and rebellious. They won’t follow the Scaredy Cat’s ridiculous rules like all of the other pets on the block. Together, they set out to find the truth behind who the Scaredy Cat really is, and how they can end his mischief-making for good.

Welcome to Check Your Shelf. There is yet another mass shooting to mourn this week, and as more libraries move towards a fuller reopening, I can’t help but feel afraid. I hope all of you are keeping yourselves safe, library friends.

Libraries & Librarians

News Updates

The Ithaka library director survey on EDI and antiracism reveals some significant disconnects between ideals and what’s actually being done in libraries.

Free Library of Philadelphia employees are extremely upset over a recent diversity training program for staff, which told staff to “avoid terms like white supremacy.”

(TW: toxic workplace) The Tempe Public Library quietly fires its library director after years of complaints.

Baltimore County lawmakers advance a bill that would allow library employees to unionize.

Cool Library Updates

Toronto Public Library staff assist with the city’s plan to vaccinate its oldest residents against COVID.

Worth Reading

An interview with the woman who returned a library book to the New York Public Library sixty-three years overdue.

10 adorable Little Free Libraries across the US.

Book Adaptations in the News

George Tillman Jr., the director of The Hate U Give, is directing The Crossover for Disney+, based on the book by Kwame Alexander.

Hulu is adapting Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, along with Beth Macy’s best-selling Dopesick.

A Spanish-language spinoff of Bird Box is in the works at Netflix.

Rebekah Weatherspoon’s Cowboys of California trilogy has been optioned for TV.

Let the Right One In is being developed as a TV series.

Apple is adapting The Greatest Beer Run Ever, with Zac Efron and Russel Crowe slated to star.

Matthew McConaughey is reprising his role from A Time to Kill in the upcoming sequel series A Time for Mercy.

Spectrum Originals has ordered a 10-episode series for Joe Pickett, which is based on the CJ Box novels.

HBO is developing…three?…more Game of Thrones spinoff series? Look, if you’re as lost as I am about all of this GoT spinoff series news, here’s a roundup of what’s currently in the works.

Killing Eve is ending with Season 4.

Trailer for the new adaptation of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Books & Authors in the News

AAPI authors and Bookstagrammers organize a support campaign for AAPI communities.

(TW: transphobia) Parents in Texas objected to the book Call Me Max by Kyle Lukoff being read to a fourth-grade class (the book is about an elementary-age transgender boy). In response, the school brought in counselors for the students, because yeah, that’s a totally acceptable response when asked to acknowledge the existence of transgender people.

Oprah Winfrey selected Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead novels for her latest book club picks.

The Library of America is publishing a never-before-seen novel by Richard Wright.

There’s going to be a crowdfunded book of Douglas Adams’ notes, letters, poems, and lists left in his archive.

Step inside this immersive New York exhibit based on the book Goodnight Moon.

Numbers & Trends

There have been several critiques of the Ripped Bodice’s most recent Diversity Report (including this one), and the Ripped Bodice has responded. (Unfortunately, if you read the comments, the RB’s response fell flat with a lot of readers.

A look at book sales following adaptations released on streaming services.