Monthly Archives: October 2013

Mobile Libraries: Bringing books to hard-to-reach places.

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biblioburro

I just learned about this via a Facebook post to an old news story, but a little bit of research shows this dude is still going strong. This man is Luis Soriano, and he brings books (and literacy!) to rural areas in Colombia. Soriano is an elementary school teacher, with a degree in Spanish literature. He bought two burros – Alfa and Beto – and travels around the Magdalena district of Colombia, helping kids with their homework and reading to them! He’s the subject of a CNN news story and a PBS special. There’s at least two children’s books written about him! (And another book about interesting mobile libraries.)

Soriano is really impressive; he’s been tied up by bandits (annoyed that he didn’t have any money), fractured his leg when he fell from his donkey, and more recently had a leg amputated due to a donkey accident, but he’s still committed to bringing books to children! (According to Wikipedia, at least, though I’m having trouble finding a current website or blog for him.)

BooktankSoriano isn’t the only one finding creative ways of bringing books to people. In Argentina, the Arma de Instruccion Masiva, or “Weapon of Mass Instruction” travels the streets of Buenos Aires, bringing books to all. (Video and more photos at the link, and you can find him on Facebook.) Raul Lemesoff turned his 1979 Ford Falcon into a library tank! The library consists of about 900 books and growing.

bookcamelKenya’s mobile library travels on the back of a camel! They have a website and a novel written about their work. It was started in 1996 and travels to four settlements per day, four times a week, with 12 camels! They’re always looking for donations, and their website has details for how to donate.

bookdonkeys

In Zimbabwe, donkey-pulled carts, organized by the Rural Libraries and Resources Development Programme, bring books to rural areas.

There are many other unique mobile libraries, from classic cars to bicycle trailers to boats. Seeing people so passionate about sharing the joy of reading is really inspiring, and I definitely won’t take my local library for granted anymore! I may even need to go through my own stacks and see about donating a few to some of these, though parting with books is something that I find it incredibly hard to do.

When was the last time you went to the library?

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

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The Alloy of Law
by Brandon Sanderson
Published: 2012
Pages: 416
Series: Mistborn #4
Fantasy

The Alloy of Law is a fun romp in the world of Sanderson’s earlier Mistborn trilogy. The world has advanced three hundred years, from medieval technology levels to about Victorian levels. Electricity is just starting to be found in homes, though people are suspicious of it, and trains and guns are fairly widespread. Think Victorian England meets the Wild West and you’ll be in the ballpark. The main characters of the Mistborn trilogy have faded into legend by the time The Alloy of Law takes place, and it’s really interesting to see how they are revered (or not) by the characters in this book.

The Mistborn series has a well-developed system of magic that I found unique, creative, and complex but easy to follow. Allomancy is the art of burning ingested metals to do particular effects; different metals (and the ability to burn them) allow you to do different things. Tin, for example, lets you enhance your senses, leading to the nickname “Tin-eyes.” Burning steel lets a Coinshot “push” on metals, telekinetically moving the metal away from themselves. (Or themselves away from the metal, if the metal too secure to be moved!) On the flipside of the coin (Ha!) is Feruchemy – a feruchemist uses metal accessories, often in the form of armbands or other jewelry, to “store up” his resources – he can become deaf and blind for a time, in order to use that resource later and have super-hearing and eagle-eyes, for example. Nothing is ultimately gained or lost, just stored until it’s needed.

The writing in Alloy was certainly not as deep as the Mistborn trilogy, but Sanderson has said in interviews that this was supposed to be a fun break between books. If you’re looking for a quick, fun adventure story, this is definitely a good book to pick up. From the witty banter between characters to the surprising choice of romance, this book kept my attention from start to finish. Sanderson is a very skilled author and I am eagerly looking forward to the sequel, as the book ends on a cliffhanger!

From the back of The Alloy of Law:
Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds. 

Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history – or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.

One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will.

After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.