1 . Popular Libraries in the World

The idea of a public library —— where anyone in the community is trusted to borrow books, often for long stretches of time, for free —— is fairly magical. Some of the libraries in the world are pretty popular now.

The British Library is comparable to the Library of Congress in terms of the size of their holdings, many of which are unique. According to its annual report, the British Library welcomes millions of visitors every year, but the figure in 2016-2017 represents a small but disappointing reduction in the overall visitor numbers.

According to its annual report, the State Library of Victoria’s visitors broke the 2 million in 2016-2017 visit record for the first time in its history, making it the busiest library in Australia. It also recorded many online visits, accessed collection items and uses of digitized collection items.

The New York Public Library reports that it has hosted millions of visitors and circulated large numbers of items over their locations. According to a press, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building —— the main branch of the library —— yearly receives the greatest number of visitors.

Established as the Imperial Library of Peking in 1909, the National Library of China is now the largest library in Asia, with holdings of over 30 million items. The library’s annual report puts its total visitors across multiple locations at several million every year.

5 . 4 Books for Your Christmas List

These spectacular books would make fantastic presents this Christmas.

Journey to the River Sea

by Eva Ibbotson.

Illustrated by Katie Hickey

(Macmillan Children’s Books)

In this children’s classic, travel deep into the Amazon jungle in search of adventure with heroine Mala. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of an award-winning, best-selling story this gift edition comes packed with lots of colorful artwork from illustrator Katie Hickey.

Little People Big Dreams Treasury

by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Lisbeth Kaiser

(Frances Lincoln Children’s book)

In this wonderfully illustrated collection you can explore the fascinating true stories of 50 brilliant “dreamers” including activists like Greta Thunberg, artists such as Frida Kahlo, musicians, scientists, sporting legends and writers.

Daughter of the Deep

by Rick Riordan

(Puffin Books)

Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan’s latest book is a thrilling sci-fi adventure set in an academy for underwater explorers. During the sea-trials at the end of their first year, Ana and her classmates witness a terrible tragedy and soon begin to uncover deep, dark secrets and age-old rivalries.

Everyone Sang

by William Sieghart.

Illustrated by Emily Sutton

(Walker Books)

If you like poetry, you’ll love this illustrated collection, which is divided into four sections: Poems to Make You Smile; Poems to Move You; Poems to Give You Hope; and Poems to Calm and Connect You. Poets such as Carol Ann Duffy and Lemn Sissay are included.

6 . Today, many people spend a lot of time reading online, whether reading news, social media, or e-books. While online reading opens up a lot of knowledge to people, there are some drawbacks, too. These include eyestrain, headaches, as well as difficulty in even finishing reading the text. Now a new reading plugin (插件) has been intended to help people overcome these problems and read faster online.

The reading plugin called Bionic Reading, which was developed by Swiss designer Renato Casutt, was created with the belief that your brain can read faster than your eyes. The plugin makes the first few letters of each word in bold (粗体), which actually allows your eyes to skip over parts of the text and your brain to fill in what is missing. Incredibly, reading like this feels like finally unlocking 100 percent of people’s brain.

Casutt came up with the plugin by accident. He was reading a book in a foreign language and realized he could read it faster and well master it if he separated it into parts. He has worked for six years to develop Bionic Reading and is still working to perfect it. Many people who want to strengthen their reading ability show interest in it, but more research is needed before it can be definitively shown that the system improves reading ability. But people with dyslexia (诵读障碍) have confirmed that Bionic Reading did help them focus on what they are reading.

Casutt’s goal is to integrate the plugin into all reading apps and online services. “In a digital world dominated (支配) by shallow forms of reading, Bionic Reading aims to encourage a more in-depth reading and understanding of written content,” he said. Bionic Reading is available in several apps like Fiery Feeds, Lire, and Next App. The best way to know if it helps you read better online is to try it yourself and find out what it is all about.

10 . What will you do when one of the few bookstores in your neighborhood shuts down? If you’re Latanya DeVaughn, you will make a new and improved one! The Bronx mom and writer has always dreamed of opening her own bookstore, so after watching yet another close its doors for good during the pandemic, she saw her chance.

While Latanya said every neighborhood deserved a bookstore, opening physical stores on every block simply wasn’t an option. So she decided to bring the books to her neighbors, instead, by turning a bus into a bookmobile! With the help of her community, she raised money for her dream and, at the end of 2021, it came true! Bronx Bound Books rolled out in style as a bus with orange cube bookshelves. “People love the way it smells,” Latanya added. “One woman said the wood smell makes her feel like she’s at home.”

Although the bookstore on wheels carries around 3,0000 new and used books, it has more room than you might expect! Latanya also makes sure to stock books with a range of diverse characters so all readers can see themselves in the pages. Of course, her collection also features works of renowned Black authors like James Baldwin and Alice Walker. “It’s meant to be that way,” she explained, “because I remember going to bookstores and having to look through books just to find someone that I felt I could resonate with (引起共鸣).”

Setting up her bookstore in a new spot each day, Latanya is doing her part to make sure that everyone in the Bronx has books to read. That’s what Bronx Bound Books is open for. “I can’t open up a bookstore on every corner, but I can probably pop up on a lot of different corners,” she said.

Thanks to Latanya and Bronx Bound Books, the Bronx is becoming a heaven for book lovers day by day. I’m sure that the little bookstore will continue to develop quickly!