Opinions on Reserve
Literature in Lexile
The idea of lexiles is quite simple: As we have units of measure for temperature, length, weight, periods of time, and so on, why not quantify the complexity, the reading difficulty of a text? I can appreciate the possible advantages of having a solid, instant, digit-sized impression of a book. Teachers in primary and secondary schools could use lexiles to choose which books to assign to which students—knowing in advance if students would be bored, would meet with a challenge, or would struggle through without comprehension.
Lamonsters and Little Einsteins
What won’t you see? Not the stereotypical shushing librarian, that I guarantee. Lamont Café is loud, and that’s ok: It’s a café intended to provide necessary space for meetings, study groups, office hours, and tutoring. But the policy of the café is not the policy of the whole of Lamont: There are levels of quiet in Lamont. The third floor Donatelli Reading Room is reserved for quietest study, nearly silent study. The second floor is less quiet than the third; and the first floor isn’t quiet at all, with the noise of the main doors, the café, and the circulation desk precluding even a pretense of reading in silence. The Collaborative Learning Space on level B and the Larsen Room in fact invite students to talk and to collaborate. Though not to “collaborate.” Yet you will find whispering and conversation on level 3, study groups outside of group areas, and so on.
Redemption for the Nobel Prize in Literature
Through press coverage, Alice Munro has become a Nobel Laureate of numbers: the second Canadian author recognized by the Swedish Academy—or the first, depending on how the U.S., Canada, and King Solomon would prefer to have Saul Bellow divvied up—and the 13th woman writer so honored with diploma, medal, and eight million kronor. “Can this be possible? It seems dreadful there’s only 13 of us,” Munro said, learning of her victory and its significance.
Harvard University Library
Hard to imagine now are the days when a library book had to be returned to the branch from where it was checked out. Harder still the days before the Hollis catalogue, Amazon, or Google Books.
