Last Friday was Employee Appreciation Day. Employee Appreciation Day is a nice start, but if it is to make a difference in employee engagement and loyalty, that day must be the start of something bigger — something that makes employees feel valued as contributors, partners and people every day of the year.
Read More
There is something compelling and enduring (even if not literally!) about the paperback. It is the affordable, reliable, available book for the everyman. While serialized literature was a feature of nineteenth century newspapers, and while the concept of the free public (and sometimes lending) library dates to even earlier, the mass availability of serious literature in book format largely came with the advent of the paperback.
Read More
One of the most amazing discoveries to come out of Books@Work is the power of participant life experience. Unlike a traditional classroom-based seminar, in which the professor and text have something to teach the students, the power of our model is that it fosters the unique collision of three important elements: professor expertise, text and participant experience.
Read More
Often lost in the conversation about what tools, systems and approaches to adopt in order to achieve particular outcomes is the experience of the individual being served. The voice of the beneficiary is a very valuable gauge of a program’s impact. By interviewing participants in Books@Work programs, we learn so much about the impact of the seminar experience, both for individuals and for groups.
Read More
Capria Jaussen, our Operations Coordinator, reflects on her history with books and the power of reading a variety of interesting texts. She writes, “What I hear from people participating in Books@Work seminars continues to solidify my belief in the power of a book’s great characters, meaningful concepts and challenging writing to transform readers.”
Read More
In response to an article about how CEOs can deepen their perspectives by reading philosophy, we argue that a class of “Philosopher Kings” is not enough. Executives who are serious about thinking deeply and learning from philosophical texts can broaden their outlook — and potentially their results — by including the sentries at the table.
Read More
Rather than detracting from higher education’s efforts to define and measure critical thinking skills, the humanities can and should be front and center. Our own experience at Books@Work tells us that this is not only possible but powerful.
Read More
The Guardian recently launched a delightful Love Letters to Libraries series. Famous authors and everyday readers have written poignant and nostalgic reflections. Reading these mini-memoirs has taken me on a journey to revisit my own library encounters. But as I set out to write my own love letter, I am not looking back. In fact, I don’t think I have ever been as appreciative of a library as I am right now.
Read More
We often think about libraries as places for quiet studying, a home for books, not people. A service provider that allows us to borrow materials. But Ferguson’s library is proving that libraries are so much more than that; they are community institutions that use books to help residents explore their own realities and those of their neighbors, institutions that build and support community development.
Read More
As the first in a series of posts on books that have made a difference in our lives, our Academic Director reflects on three books for which she is profoundly grateful this Thanksgiving – books that got her thinking in new ways. What books are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
Read More