Following the alarming rise of selective local banning of books in various school systems, both the House and Senate are reported to be preparing resolutions “to protect the rights of students to learn.” Resolutions are expression of sentiment, however, and are not laws. From coverage in Politico, which has seen a draft, the resolution “expresses concern about the spreading problem of book banning and proliferating threats to freedom of expression in the United States” and “reaffirms the United States’ commitment to supporting writers’ freedom of expression, and the freedom of all Americans to read books without government censorship.” It also […]
News
Baker & Taylor’s Systems Are Back Online
Baker & Taylor’s systems are back up, after more than two weeks offline following a ransomware attack. They write in an announcement on their site that Title Source 360 is now “fully functional and accessible.” They continue: “Bringing our systems back online safely and securely has been a top priority. Our internal technical teams with the support of external cyber-security experts have brought our servers and applications back online after thoroughly assessing and confirming their security. At this time, we do not believe there is any active malicious software in our environment, including any that would put our customers at […]
Baker & Taylor’s Systems Remain Offline
As of Friday morning, Baker & Taylor’s online systems remains down. The outage began the weekend of August 20-21. They write in an update on their website that they are “working around the clock to return to normal operations.” The update continues, “Our priority has been remediating our systems and ensuring they are sanitized. As that work is completed, our focus is transitioning to restoration, bringing our systems online, and returning to operations in a phased approach. We expect disruptions to continue this week but are hopeful we can provide timelines for individual systems and applications as the week progresses. […]
Washington Post To Bring Back Standalone Book Section
Washington Post Book critic Ron Charles announced in his Book Club newsletter on Friday that the newspaper will bring back its standalone books section starting September 25. The news follows the announcement that John Williams will become the new editor of Book World on September 6. Reviews by Charles and Michael Dirda will move from the daily paper to the new Sunday section. Charles writes, “Along with reviews, readers will find Q&As, publishing stories, author profiles and anything else we might dream up for this luxurious new space. As a print junky, I’m also excited to have weekly cover art […]
Baker & Taylor’s Systems Remain Offline More Than A Week After Ransomware Attack
Following a ransomware attack over a week ago (on the weekend of August 20-21), Baker & Taylor’s systems have been down, and remain so on Monday morning. The outage has been widespread: Title Source 360 and EDI have been inaccessible (and even their phone systems were down), with the company unable to process orders to library customers as a result. In the latest update, the company said: “We want to take this opportunity to thank you again for your continued patience and cooperation as we deal with the service disruption we’ve been experiencing. We know that it has been frustrating, […]
Walmart Launches Book Club
Walmart has launched the Walmart Book Club, which will feature five titles for adults annually–one for each season and one Pick of the Year. “Our team of book merchants will select titles based on reading trends, relevancy and industry market data–helping to identify exciting titles Walmart customers are sure to love,” the company said in a release. The books will have a Walmart Book Club sticker on the cover. The inaugural title is Ali Hazelwood‘s Love on the Brain, which publishes today.