Plagiarism charges: Who is really responsible?

Kaavya Viswanathan, 18-year-old Harvard student and author of How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life, has been accused of plagiarism: borrowing as many as 45 passages from Megan McCafferty's novels Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings. This story from the New York Times explains the basics.

Kaavya has apologized over and over in the media. But is she really responsible? The idea has surfaced that perhaps she isn't, and that instead the fault lies in how the book was published - through "book packager" Alloy Entertainment. Read this editorial by Rachel Pine for more on that theory. Perhaps someone else should be doing the apologizing ...

There's another compelling piece in Slate magazine.

Inspire by Example

National Volunteer Week is this week, April 23-29. Volunteers at the library tutor kids, produce television shows of local interest, scan photographs, help people use the computer, find books, work in Twice Sold Tales, allow kids to read to their dogs, read newspapers for the blind or homebound, raise funds, add stickers to materials, make people laugh, help with crafts and projects, encourage people to learn, INSPIRE BY EXAMPLE.

Thanks ACPL volunteers for helping the library serve our community better and better every day!

If you are interested in volunteering, check out our current needs and contact Sandy Screeton at (260) 421-1233.