Book briefs: Story time from behind bars
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Welcome to your weekly round-up of book news and literary highlights from The Thread.
This week, a public library helps kids read alongside their incarcerated parents, and one publisher decides to mail presidential candidates a very important book.
Making story time possible for children and incarcerated parents
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Parents in prison face huge obstacles trying to keep in touch with their children. Communication is limited by phone calls and visiting hours and other constraints. The simple act of reading a story together can be impossible.
A service at the Brooklyn Public Library in New York is trying to change that.
TeleStory offers children a chance to read with their incarcerated parents through a live video feed set up in the library. Marketplace profiled the program in June, bringing listeners into the room as a child read with her father, who was in prison on Rikers Island. Listen to the full story.
A bookstore on wheels
Julia Turner and Christen Thompson are bringing books to the people: Their new bookstore is totally mobile.
Dubbed the "Itinerant Literate," it's a pop-up shop that's been making appearances all over Charleston, S.C. Come August, the pair plans to upgrade to a modified Airstream trailer, fitted with shelves full of new and used books.
The Itinerant Literate will continue to move around town and post its location online so book lovers know where to find it. Being mobile means that new, unsuspecting customers can stumble across the shop as it moves.
The shop is a dream fulfilled for the two friends, who had long talked about opening a bookstore. They even sketched out a seven-year plan. Last year they realized there was no need to wait — if they started small and mobile, they could launch right away.
For now, the Itinerant Literate will roam the streets of Charleston. There's no word on whether it will make a cross-country road trip — but they'll have plenty of reading material if they do.
Publisher sending C.I.A. torture report to all presidential candidates
In December, independent publisher Melville House made headlines when it announced it would publish the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the C.I.A.'s use of torture as a 480-page book.
The publisher is well-known for literary fiction, but has a strong nonfiction list as well, with titles on conflicts in Pakistan and secret detention sites.
The press' founder, Dennis Johnson, said at the time that the report was "probably the most important government document of our generation, even one of the most significant in the history of our democracy."
The initial print run of 50,000 sold out almost immediately.
Now Melville House has announced it will send five copies of the book to each presidential candidate, along with a letter, encouraging candidates to "read and share these copies with your staff and advisers," in the hope that the books will "help you clarify your position on the legality, morality, and efficacy of torture."
