The Fort Worth Public Library in Texas is offering an educator-only library card that allows teachers to borrow as many as 100 library books and other materials for 42 days -- double the usual time -- to use in their classroom libraries. Manya Shorr, the library's director, the effort seeks to allow teachers to forgo using their own money to buy books so that students can learn about current events or certain specialized topics.

A California bus driver is teaming up with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to distribute books to students from underserved communities. Seena Hawley launched the Berkeley Baby Book Project when she noticed some of her youngest students were falling behind during the pandemic. The partnership with Parton will allow Hawley to reach more at-risk students.

Public libraries in Madison, Wis., are loaning electric-powered bicycles to help people get around town and visit library facilities. The bikes can be used for free by library card-holding residents without the need for a credit card or smartphone.

The Community College of Beaver County is partnering with two neighborhood libraries in Pennsylvania to offer hybrid, 90-minute, general-education courses off campus. Potential adult students noted in a recent CCBC survey that colleges should be more flexible and affordable.

The Federal Communications Commission, in response to demand, has announced a second opportunity for schools and libraries to apply for a share of the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund. The next opportunity begins Sept. 28 and runs through Oct. 13.

Librarians at the University of Bristol say parchment fragments found in a late 15th-century liturgical book have been identified as one of the oldest writings from medieval Arthurian manuscripts. The fragment contains an altered version of a tale about Merlin and the enchantress Viviane and was likely written between 1250 and 1275.