October 2018

Every public library and YMCA in the U.S. may soon be equipped with Narcan, in an effort to combat drug-related deaths by expanding access to the opioid-overdose-reversing naloxone nasal spray. Emergent BioSolutions, which this month completed its acquisition of Narcan maker Adapt Pharma, will provide a free kit including two doses of the nasal spray, as well as educational materials, to each of the 16,568 public libraries and 2,700 YMCAs in the U.S., according to an announcement released...

One day, when I was in fourth grade, I received a book in my classroom "mailbox." In fact, every kid in our class received the very same book , a book that we were not required to read for school but that, rather, we were allowed to take home and keep. We were all flabbergasted. Had there been a mistake? What was this unthinkable treasure, this gift from school that required no labor in return? I vaguely recall a teacher informing us that it was a book "about math" or "geometry" or some such...

As fault lines in the US deepen every day around class, race, political party, gender, and education, libraries are quietly p roviding the social glue that society seems to lack. Most have reading programs and career resources. Some have media production studios and maker spaces. Millions use libraries for internet access, and to work. They are a first stop for immigrants, a place for parents to introduce their kids to reading—an essential gateway to learning—and where the the socially...