New Yorkers Booked 9,500 Free Museum Tickets in Four Days, New Passes Arrive August 1

The University of Nevada at Reno’s DeLaMare Library houses a ‘maker space’ which houses creative tools ranging from whiteboards to laser cutters to microprocessors. It is the library’s hope that this space allows students and the general public to fabricate their ideas and form new, innovative collaborations.

While news of failures in the fight against climate change make headlines daily, there are many steps the everyday citizen can take to reduce their impact. Many don't know where to start though. That's where Project Drawdown comes in. This project is a global coalition of researchers, scientists, economists and others, that rate the impact of solutions, creating a way for people to see how they could possibly fit into the equation of climate solutions.

Across the United States, tribal lands have the lowest access to internet, an issue that restricts opportunity and education in those areas. In New Mexico, several small tribes have partnered to lay fiber-optic cables that connect the libraries, which serve as primary sources of internet connection, to faster, cheaper internet.

The Send Me SFMOMA program allows people to text a number with a request based on a variable such as a object, mood, or color and receive back an image of an appropriate work in the SFMOMA collection. Through this service, which SFMOMA has made open source for other museums to use, the museum is able to connect with the public and ‘display’ a much higher percentage of its holdings.

Librarians in New York City are attempting to "promote literacy in ordinary locations." By adding books and staff to laundromats in low-income communities, they are providing opportunities for children living in "book deserts."

The first Human Library emerged in 2000 in Copenhagen, and has since exploded in popularity to the point of operating chapters in more than 70 different countries. The concept is that readers should not judge a book by its cover, so in this library, actual people are the books available to read with titles like "Polyamorous", "Soldier (PTSD)", and "Refugee". The 30-minute "reading sessions" (face-to-face conversations) allow people to learn in a judgement-free zone and put a real person behind the story they are hearing.

For many jobs across the country, working from home is a fairly easy adaptation to cope with social distancing measures. But for many scientists who work in laboratories with ongoing research, a work from home solution does not quite fit. Labs and universities are finding ways to adapt and prioritize which experiments to put on hold.

Auraria Campus in Denver installed more than 2,100 solar panels on their school’s library, which will save students money and be more sustainable. The campus teamed up with Namaste Solar to build the $1 million solar array, which will reduce campus energy usage by about 2.5 percent annually. While it will take 15 years for the panels to recoup the cost of installation, the life of the project should be about 30 years, so it will also generate additional revenue for the school.

Sadiya Riyaz Shaikh wanted more students, specifically girls, in her village to have access to books and a place to study. She created the Maulana Azad Library, a repurposed family guesthouse full of hundreds of new and second books, newspapers, coloring books, and a tutor who helps students. “Without the library, I wouldn’t have been able to manage it,” said one of the students who regularly attends the library.

In the midst of a seemingly increasingly divided political and racial landscape, some artists of color are pushing back to create art that represents their own non-White communities. Some artists have chosen to do this by recreating Norman Rockwell’s paintings, which in the earlier part of his career mainly showcased White people. “The image haunted me because of the world we live in,” the artist said, referring to today’s divisive political climate. “I wanted to imagine what it would look like today.”