What in the word?

The following is a guest blog post written by Dr. Anne Curzan. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we may take for granted the name…

Several people recently recommended I read an article from The Atlantic called, provocatively, “Reading Is a Vice” (Jan. 2, 2026). Author Adam Kirsch argues that if we want young Americans…

Shortly after Planet Word opened, I told our programming staff that we needed to begin thinking about how we would observe special, word-related occasions. Well, the biggest one of all…

I spent a couple weeks trying to draft one of my Messages from the Founder about students not reading whole texts in school (or out of school for that matter)…

Languages are more than just words — they carry heritage, identity, and culture, ensuring they’re passed on to future generations. Yet many Indigenous and non-dominant languages face the threat of…

In a guest essay in the Times (November 23, 2025), Brian Bannon, the chief librarian at the New York Public Library and its director of branch libraries and education, argues…