Despite the general rule for quiet demanded by libraries, they've been the subject of some fairly significant noise__ Children's Laureate（儿童桂冠作家）,Chris Riddell, along with eight former Children's Laureates, has written an open letter to Justine Greening, the British Secretary of State for Education, demanding an investigation into school library service closures（关闭）.

    Why should parents or pupils be concerned whether or not school libraries close? Are they surely just mausoleums（陵墓）to the paper-bound past? Or are they rooms that are of little use to today's Internet-connected student population, who have access to a world of books and information through their digital devices?

    Quite simply, school libraries, as well as their librarians, are critical to our children's future.

    Research has proved this to be the case. The level of development of a school library is a highly accurate predictor of academic success, which means that parents should perhaps go so far as to compare the libraries of the schools they are considering, rather than look at league tables, when seeking the right schools for their children. Chris Riddell and his fellow former Laureates are absolutely right to emphasize the importance of librarians in introducing children to life-changing books and turning them into lifelong readers. Reading is a skill that needs to be developed.

    Librarians play the crucial role of introducing pupils to different genres or authors, as well as encouraging children of varying abilities to read—from the reluctant readers to those with higher than average reading ages.

    However, if libraries were to have a "job description", cultivating a love of reading and promoting literacy（误写能力）is just one of their essential roles. The other role is, to be at the very centre of learning, a resource, for students to use in acquiring knowledge. Ultimately, as students get older they need to become increasingly experienced readers for information, as well as, hopefully, for pleasure. They need to be able to find out and access, through reading and understanding, the answers to their questions themselves.

    Independent learning skills are very much in demand by pupils and parents, as well as universities and employers, because real education is about so much more than just academic success or grades on a piece of paper. As Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, pointed out," the simple truth is that we can't teach all that we would like them to know. "The emphasis therefore must now be on teaching children how to learn for themselves.

    Talking of libraries, we would always focus on the collection of books and the dissemination（传播）of knowledge to aid learning. Therefore surely, it makes sense that if libraries are given the right status and adequate resources, they will play a vital role in the development of these much-needed independent learning skills. This has never been more important than in today's information age, when everything we need to know is only a few clicks away.

Libraries and librarians should be central in helping pupils understand how to access data or knowledge for their studies or interests—regardless of whether this is from a book an online resource or a journal.

    It is equally important that libraries guide students on how to "read" the information that is available to them—a vitally important skill given that the Internet contains a large amount of mistakes and misinformation. But, of course, libraries can only offer this support and guidance if they are properly valued and resourced, which means that we need as many voices as possible to be "shouting" about the importance of libraries in the education of our children.

    Chris Riddell is encouraging children to ask their teachers where their school library is. Perhaps parents also need to be asking their current and prospective schools about the same question. Let's make the "noise" far louder—it needs to be uncomfortably deafening（震耳欲聋的）.

    When I spent the summer with my grandmother, she always set me down to the general store with a list. Behind the counter was a lady like no one I'd ever seen.

    “Excuse me,” I said. She looked up and said, “I'm Miss Bee.”

    “I need to get these.” I said, holding up my list. “So? Go get them. ” Miss Bee pointed to a sign. “There's no one here except you and me and I'm not your servant, so get yourself a basket from that pile.”

    I visited Miss Bee twice a week that summer. Sometimes she shortcharged me. Other times she overcharged. Going to the store was like going into battle. All summer long she found ways to trick me. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce “bicarbonate of soda” and memorized its location on the shelves than she made me hunt for it all over again. But by summer's end the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes.

    “All right, little girl,” she said. “What did you learn this summer?” “That you're a meanie!” I replied. Miss Bee just laughed and said, “I know what you think of me. Well, I don't care! My job is to teach every child I meet life lessons. When you get older you'll be glad!” Glad I met Miss Bee? Ha! The idea was absurd…

    Until one day my daughter came to me with homework troubles. “It's too hard,” she said. “Could you finish my math problems for me?”

    “If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?” I said. Suddenly, I was back at that general store where I had learned the hard way to add up my bill by myself. Had I ever been overcharged since?

    BEIJING (News Agency) — Children in China today spend five times more money than their parents did when they were young.

    So what are all these children buying? The list is long: iPads, cell phones and jeans are typical items that children “have to” buy. And they will do anything to get them. They ask their parents over and over until they buy them.

    But parents also need to take the blame(责备) for spending so much money. They want their children to have the best things. They end up competing with other parents over whether their children have the latest products.

    So it's no wonder children find it hard to learn the importance of saving money rather than spending it all the time.

    And it's hard to save when companies use advertising (打广告)and clever slogans (口号) to encourage young people to buy their products. They even encourage children to keep asking their parents for something until they get it.

    Today, you don't even need to have money in order to buy something. Banks give out credit cards and loans (贷款) all the time, so people are saving less and less. We are used to carrying lots of money around. And if you don't have much, you can always borrow some.

    But this hasn't always been the case. When our grandparents were young, there was very little money and everyone had to save hard for things they bought. They only bought things they needed, not things they just wanted.

    The older generation made the wise expression, “Money doesn't grow on trees.” This is as true now as it was 50 years ago. They give money a great deal of value. And we all have a lot to learn from them.

Essentials of Nutrition — Good nutrition VS malnutrition (营养不良)

    Author: Joel Bressler

    Price: $29. 99

Essentials of Nutrition touches important health topics such as: the positive and negative aspects of nutrition; the importance of exercise; the necessity of vitamins, minerals, and water. It also advises how doctors and educators will improve our health in the future.

    Preserve the Best and Conserve the Rest—Memoirs (回忆录) of a US Forest Service Wildlife Biologist

    Author: Hadley B. Roberts

    Price: $19.99

Preserve the Best and Conserve the Rest covers US Forest Service wildlife biologist Hadley B. Roberts' half-century career in wildlife and fish habitat conservation and preservation. It includes his accomplishment, motives and influences behind his actions.

Poodle (贵宾犬) Mistress —The Autobiographical Story of Life with Nine Toy Poodle

    Author: Sandi Latimer

    Price: $22.99

Poodle Mistress is a story of unconditional love and devotion about nine dogs that changed author Sandi Latimer's life. Her memoir (回忆录) details a twenty-seven-year journey as she and her husband cared for and enjoyed the funny behaviors of their toy poodles.

A Professor and CEO True Story—A Fascinating Journey to Success

    Author: Richard T. Cheng

    Price: $13.95

In A Professor and CEO True Story, Richard T Cheng shares how he overcame great odds and transformed from a struggling immigrant to million-dollar CEO and esteemed professor. This is a powerful and inspiring story of success and survival.

    People living in the country enjoy several advantages that people living in the city cannot enjoy.

    They are in close contact (接触)with nature. They make friends with trees and stones. They breathe fresh air. They fight with strong winds. They listen to the song of birds. This contact with nature is good for health. There are many diseases that are common in the city, but are not to be found in the country. For example, near­sightedness is almost unknown to country people. Because of the absence of cars, one can walk more freely in the country than in the city. There are no rules of the road nor traffic signs to obey. People living in the country can easily get fresh vegetables, fresh fruit and fresh milk, and they get them at lower prices than in the city. Country life is economical (节俭的)in other ways, too. There are practically no temptations to waste money.

    Country people are mostly honest. They say what they mean, and make and keep promises with sincerity (诚意). They do not put on air (摆架子). They do not pretend to have those ridiculous (荒谬的)manners which are necessary in what we call polite society.

The urgency and importance of Covid-19 over (he past year have driven almost everything else from most leaders5 minds. But since the vaccine is kicking in, Britain's government is once again beginning to think about the things that will matter later. Next week, it is expected to publish a 'plan for growth" to boost productivity, with innovation at its centre.

The world may be on the point of a technological boom with life sciences, at which Britain excels. Innovation is crucial to productivity, but on this front Britain's performance has lagged behind its competitors' in recent years. Its low spending on Research and Development (R&D) argues for a boost. Those who attributed the financial failure in the 1970s to the insufficiency of research funds may regard this as a threat to economic growth. Promoting innovation can quickly (um into an exercise in picking winners - or, as is more often the case, losers.

A second danger is that policy agendas get mixed up. The government has promised to "level up" poorer areas of the country, so deprived towns arc campaigning for more money for their universities. But trying to boost innovation by sending money to weak institutions is likely to make our leading universities lose their advantages, thus producing average ideas that could have been remarkable. Britain's research-funding system has always been elitist(精英主义的). It should stay that way.

The government's first move in boosting innovation was the announcement of a plan for an Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA). ARlA's purpose is to fund high-risk, high-reward research. But money is not all that mailers. The successful translation of life science research into treatments during the pandemic suggests some inexpensive measures that can also make a difference.

One is to speed up governmental processes. The rapidity with which Britain's medical regulator moved during the pandemic is one reason why the vaccine rollout is racing through the population. Urgency is not unique lo pandemics. Getting things done quickly can make an investment worthwhile and determine where a businessman chooses as a base.

Another useful measure the government should use is its unique ability to overcome barriers. At the beginning of the pandemic. Covid-19 researchers were unable to gain access to different strands of health service data. The government eased restrictions on existing data and allowed researchers to ask people who had tested positive tor Covid-19 to join trials. Both were crucial to the effort.

A last principle is the value of connections between the government and the private sector. Kate Bingham, a venture capitalist who led the vaccine-purchase effort, understood how to deal with drug companies. Many of the civil servants working with her had commercial experience. The governments closeness to business during the pandemic has been criticized. But without it, the vaccine effort would not have succeeded.

Innovation took human beings from caves to computers. Good education, a welcoming immigration policy and a friendly business environment will do most to tend it. But a new sensible principles can help keep the flame burning.