I’ve just moved house and donated probably hundreds of books I didn’t like or won’t ever read, so this article that offers a behind-the-scenes look at working at bookstores that accept donations was so interesting. It’s mostly tips about how to make the employees’ lives easier. Did you know that houses with cats make bad houses from which to donate books? I did not. They don’t want your encyclopedia sets. Or bootleg audiobooks (people bootleg audiobooks?). If you wouldn’t pay $5 for the book, no one else will likely do it, either. Who knew!
Women over the age of 60 in the Indian village Fangane are getting chance to learn to read thanks to a “grandmother’s school.” Only 65% of Indian women are literate, compared to 82% of men (sexism and child marriages are cited as the main reasons), and this school offers classes for two hours a day, six days a week, timed so the women can finish their daily work or chores as well.
In news straight out of 2004, Microsoft is opening a digital bookstore that will allow users to read on Microsoft Edge, the new browser that’s replacing Explorer (finally). The store will be available starting April 11th, with the new Microsoft update scheduled for that day. The store will offer “hundreds of thousands” of both back and front list titles. With Amazon, Kobo, and B&N already pretty solid in the digital book world, the question of how much impact this will actually have is an open one.
Thanks to Unbound Worlds’ Cage Match 2017 for sponsoring this week’s newsletter.
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