American Library Association’s LibLearnX Conference in Phoenix will take place Jan. 24–27.
28,000
Number of Indigenous artists represented in the Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives (BJBLA), located within the Heard Museum in Phoenix. Like the museum, BJBLA’s holdings include traditional and contemporary American Indian artists’ art, written works, and biographical information.
$500
Amount that Tom Brodersen spent in 1974 to purchase a bookstore stocked with secondhand books. Brodersen and two friends used that inventory to open Changing Hands Bookstore, one of the state’s largest independent booksellers. The Phoenix location is also home to First Draft, a literary-themed bar.
438
Age in years of the copy of Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland owned by Paradise Lost poet and political writer John Milton, recently discovered in a donation to the Rare Book Room at Phoenix Public Library’s Burton Barr Central Library. It is only the third book ever found that includes Milton’s handwritten notes.
50
Number of boxes of items in the Nicholas A. Salerno Star Wars Collection housed at Arizona State University (ASU) Library in Tempe. Salerno, an ASU professor, administrator, and film critic, collected posters, press kits, action figures, and other promotional materials from the original trilogy
10 million
Items circulated annually by Phoenix Public Library (PPL).
50
Number of Mexican codice replicas housed in ASU’s Latin Americana collection. Codices, images and text manuscripts often printed on animal hides or tree bark, were created to share culture and information before the creation of books. ASU’s uniquely large collection shares stories of Indigenous communities before Spanish rule.
160 million
Number of copies of books sold (as of 2021) by Phoenix resident and young adult author Stephenie Meyer. Meyer is best known for the Twilight series, which spawned the world-famous movie franchise.
68
Number of years the Volunteer Nonprofit Service Association has hosted its annual used book sale, one of the largest in the region, in Phoenix. This year’s sale is Feb. 15–16.
