I vaguely remember seeing a few blog posts and photo-heavy features here and there in months past about tiny, DIY libraries. It always seemed to me like the sort of thing you might expect to see in one of those weird BuzzFeed roundups: 12 Oddball Book Lovers Who've Built Tiny Libraries On the Side of the Road, or something like that. But according to the last edition of O'Reilly Media's TOC Today newsletter (which you really, really should subscribe to if you don't already get it), tiny libraries are now a 'thing.' That is, a trend—or to be more specific, a quickly growing...

Those who take the subway in New York City know it can be tedious and crowded at times, and lively and energetic at others. During the long evening-time commute home, the subway can be dreadfully boring; it can also be downright entertaining. Reading, of course, is a common pastime on the train, with e-readers and physical books in the hands of many straphangers. A group of students from Miami Ad School has an idea to help pass the time and get readers involved with local libraries, according to a post on Buzzfeed. Underground Library is a proposed project for the NYC subway...

I about wet myself after opening up the February 18 issue of New York magazine, after which I immediately flipped to the often imitated (but never duplicated) Approval Matrix. There it was, right down in the furthest corner of the Brilliant/Lowbrow axis: Liberal-arts rockers Vampire Weekend show their allegiance to print by announcing their new album title in the N.Y. Times classifieds. Don't get me wrong: I realize we're all media-savvy enough to recognize this sort of thing as a clever marketing ploy, and nothing more. But therein lies the basis of my excitement ... and the overarching point of this post. Let me...