upworthy

reading

Humor

Librarians are sharing the most unhinged promotional videos and people can't get enough

Unexpectedly dark, but hilarious.

Photo credit: Canva

Librarians are far funnier than people might guess.

Is there any greater proof of humanity’s amazingness than public libraries? No, there isn’t. Creating spaces where people can find and borrow books for free, not to mention all the other offerings libraries have these days? Epically amazing. Well done, humans.

Of course, such awesome places naturally have fabulous people working at them. Librarians might have a reputation for being serious and no nonsense, but just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a person by their job title. Sure, there may be some stuffy, stodgy librarians out there, but if you spend any amount of time with librarians, you’ll see some things that might surprise you.

Case in point: The librarians at New Berlin Public Library in Wisconsin, who created and shared a hilariously unhinged promotional video that has been viewed by millions. It was so unexpectedly dark, but in the most delightful way, and it had people howling.

The promo begins with two older women, one standing with her arms outstretched, ready to catch the other woman in a trust fall. But at the last second, the woman in the back steps to the side as the woman in front falls backwards, and as the camera follows the would-be catcher, we hear a thud off screen.

“You can’t trust everybody,” the woman says to the camera, “but you can trust the New Berlin Public Library to give you access—for free—to hundreds of books, great programming, and resources."

Then the camera pans back to the other woman sprawled on the ground while another librarian looks on in horror. And people are rolling.

"I am hollering!!😂😂😂😂 I’m coming there to get a book right now," wrote one commenter.

"I live in New Berlin and have never been to the library here, and this is my introduction to it 😂," wrote another. "I'll be stopping by for sure!"

"“Whoever is running this account needs a raise 😂😂😂," wrote another.

Seriously effective marketing, eh? But New Berlin isn’t the only library to post a cheeky promo video. It appears to be a trend, and we are here for it. Check out the North Little Rock Library's video about people "literally knocking down" their door to get a library card.

As one person wrote in a comment, "This is the second SAVAGE library ad I’ve seen in the last 5 minutes here…I hope this is a trend specific to libraries."

Another agreed: "Algorithm, give me all the unhinged library content."

New Little Rock Libraries is on a roll with their "unhinged" content. Here's another that people are delighting in:

This kind of silliness from public libraries is exactly what some of us need to be hit with, especially if we tend to doomscroll. The fact that these are just local folks having fun in their jobs trying to get people to do the most wholesome thing in the world—frequent the public library—is so heartwarming. Will more libraries get in on the cheeky action? Let's hope so.

After all, how often do you get to see a librarian violently swipe a water bottle out of someone's hand, like they did at the Marysville Public Library?

Here's to librarians, literacy, books, humor, and the overall awesomeness of humanity. If we ever forget what makes us great, we can all just head to our local public library and get a wonderful reminder.

From Your Site Articles
libraries
HumorJoy
Education

Teacher reveals the 'really obvious' reason teens no longer read. It's not just the phones.

"Kids who read are just built different."

via Canva/Photos

A teenage boy stares at his smartphone.

Studies show that kids are spending a lot less time reading these days. In 2020, 42% of nine-year-old students said they read for fun almost daily, down from 52% in 2012. Seventeen percent of 13-year-olds read for fun daily, down from 27% in 2012. Among 17-year-olds, 19% say they read for fun, down from 31% in 1984.

It’s safe to say that modern technology is a big reason why kids aren’t reading as much. A recent report found that teenagers spend an average of eight hours and thirty-nine minutes per day on screens, compared to five and a half hours for pre-teen children. So, it’s no wonder they don’t have any time left to crack open a book. In December 2024, Ms. C, a high school teacher on TikTok who goes by the name @stillateacher, brought the topic up with her class and learned they stopped reading for fun at the end of middle school.

reading, kids, middle school, teens, tweens Read The Middle GIF Giphy

“So, even those who are like avid readers of the Percy Jackson series in fourth and fifth grade fall off,” the teacher says. “Honestly, there are many reasons to stop reading recreationally, like increased pressure inside and outside of school, a desire to spend more time socializing, and, of course, the phones.”

But the teacher says there’s an obvious reason “right in front of our faces”: the adults. “Adults have lowered the bar for how much you should read as a teenager so far that the bar cannot be found,” she continued. “There are many educators who have the mindset that you shouldn't teach whole books because kids just won't read them.”

@stillateacher

the literacy crisis is upon us #teachertok #teacher #highschoolteacher #englishteacher #education #literacy #booktok #creatorsearchinsights


“I've taught at schools where teaching novels is actually discouraged,” she continued. “And I have conversations with teachers in other content areas who say that they themselves never read books, that they don't think it's important for students' long-term success. All this said, it is not entirely surprising that high schoolers don't wanna read.”

How does reading benefit kids?

kids, reading, books, literacy, reading for fun, reading for pleasure Kids reading. via Canva/Photos

The significant decrease in the number of children who read for fun means that many will miss out on the incredible benefits of regularly curling up for a good book. Studies show that children who read for pleasure enjoy improved cognitive performance, language development, and academic achievement. Reading is also linked to fewer mental health problems, less screen time, and more sleep. Findings suggest that kids get the optimal benefits of reading when they do it for around 12 hours a week.

“You forgot empathy,” one commenter added. “People who read are better at empathizing because they have been able to put themselves in the shoes of others and learn about different perspectives, people, cultures, experiences.”

And @stillateacher has seen these incredible benefits first-hand. “But I'm telling you, the handful of kids I teach who do read are built different. Kids who read have stronger critical thinking skills, more success across all academic areas, and, honestly, just a stronger sense of self. Because reading helps you figure out who you are as a person,” the teacher said.

The decline in young people's reading is a serious problem that must be addressed. So, it’s terrific that the teacher used her platform on TikTok to bring it to the public’s attention. Interestingly enough, she says that TikTok is one of the few platforms encouraging kids to read.

“And honestly, thank goodness for BookTok because I think it is one of the only drivers of adolescent reading that still exists,” she concluded her post. “Isn't that sad? Like, the schools aren't doing it, TikTok's doing it. We gotta start a movement here.”

This story originally appeared last year.

From Your Site Articles
reading
EducationStudents
Culture

These are the 10 very best books of 2025 so far, according to voracious readers

"It's the perfect balance between lovely prose and addictive plot."

Credit: Amazon

The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman.

Look, I get it. Your reading list is longer than a CVS receipt at the moment. And the idea of adding 10 fresh, new titles? That makes you want to hide under a weighted blanket until you can figure out how to make your Kindle do the reading for you. But trust the Internet on this one—these aren't just any books.

We're talking about 10 literary earthquakes that are shaking up the online world, sourced from Reddit's r/suggestmeabook forum. This list has everything, from poetic climate fiction to historical romance. These are the kind of stories that make you text your friends at 2 a.m. saying, "You have to read this right now."


best, books, 2025, charlotte mcconaghy Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy.Credit: Amazon

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

Picture this: you're stranded on a remote island near Antarctica, tasked with protecting the world's last seed bank while sea levels rise around you. That's the captivating premise of Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore, a novel that reads like climate fiction meets psychological thriller.

McConaghy, an Australian author who has already proven her mastery of environmental storytelling with Migrations and Once There Were Wolves, brings readers to Shearwater Island, where Dominic Salt and his three children remain—the final inhabitants of what was once a thriving research station. When a mysterious woman named Rowan washes ashore during a fierce storm, the family's fragile existence becomes even more precarious.

Wild Dark Horse has been heralded as "Amazon's Best Book of the Year So Far for 2025," and represents McConaghy at her most ambitious. This novel asks: What impossible choices would you make to protect those you love while the world itself is disappearing?

On Reddit, one user wrote about Wild Dark Horse, "LOVED this one! The way she made the landscape come to life!"

Another hailed McConaghy, writing, "Her books all hit a perfect balance between lovely prose and addictive plot."


best, book, 2025, alison goodman The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman.Credit: Amazon

The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin by Alison Goodman

If you think the Regency era was all tea parties and beautiful gowns, Australian author Alison Goodman has a wakeup call for you. The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin is the second installment in her Ill-Mannered Ladies series. It transforms two supposedly "useless old maids" into the most formidable amateur detectives you've ever encountered.

Lady Augusta "Gus" Colebrook and her twin sister Julia are 42 years old and invisible to Regency society—the perfect, undetectable cover for two women fighting injustice. When Lord Evan, an escaped convict who has captured Gus' heart, needs help clearing his name of murder, the twin sisters dive headfirst into a world of Georgian gentlemen's clubs, spies, and ruthless bounty hunters.

With a PhD focused on Regency-era research and multiple award-winning fantasies under her belt, Goodman brings impressive credentials to this work of feminist historical fiction. The Wall Street Journal praised her Ill-Mannered Ladies series as "delightful company," and it's easy to see why. By subverting the typical "spinster" narrative, rather than pitying them, Goodman celebrates their freedom and intelligence.


best, book, 2025, john green Everything is Tuberculosis by John GreenCredit: Amazon

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Leave it to John Green to take the world's deadliest infectious disease and craft a profoundly human story that will fundamentally change how you view global health inequities. Everything is Tuberculosis marks Green's return to nonfiction—and it's one of his most essential works yet.

The book centers on Henry Reider, a spirited 17-year-old Green met in Sierra Leone. Reider suffers from drug-resistant tuberculosis. Through his story, Green explores how tuberculosis has become "a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it".


- YouTube www.youtube.com

Green's unique position as both a bestselling YA author (The Fault in Our Stars) and global health advocate gives him an extraordinary point of view. His YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers , and his work with Partners in Health have raised over $30 million for maternal mortality efforts in Sierra Leone. When he spoke at the United Nations in 2023 about tuberculosis eradication, it wasn't just celebrity advocacy—it was informed passion backed by years of research. As Green puts it, the real tragedy isn't the bacteria themselves, but that "the cure exists where the disease does not, and the disease exists where the cure does not".


best, book, 2025, stephen graham jones The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham JonesCredit: Amazon

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones crafted what many are calling his masterpiece—a chilling historical novel confronting one of America's most brutal chapters—all while reimagining the classic vampire myth through Indigenous eyes.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter tells the story of Good Stab, a Blackfeet man who turns into a vampire seeking justice following the 1870 Marias Massacre, where the U.S. cavalry slaughtered 217 women, children, and elderly Blackfeet people. The novel unfolds through diary entries and transcribed confessions, creating an epistolary structure that feels both intimate and haunting.

Jones, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe and professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, brings profound, authentic gravitas to this narrative. NPR called it "gorgeous prose" with a "complex, engaging, and multilayered" plot. The novel doesn't just use vampirism as horror. It transforms vampirism into a metaphor for survival, resistance, and the ways violence echoes through generations.



best, book, 2025, omar el akkad One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against It by Omar El AkkadCredit: Amazon

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against It by Omar El Akkad

Occasionally, a single tweet can capture the moral crisis of a generation. Omar El Akkad's viral tweet about the bombing of Gaza has been viewed over 10 million times.

"One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this." – El Akkard on Twitter/X

Now, that tweet has turned into a memoir about Western complicity and moral awakening. Born in Egypt and raised in Qatar, El Akkard brings unparalleled credentials to this literary reckoning. As a journalist for The Globe and Mail, he's covered some of the most significant events of the war on terror.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This represents what El Akkard calls his "heartsick breakup letter with the West". The book explores "what it means to live in the heart of an empire that doesn't consider you fully human" and chronicles "the deep fracture that has occurred for Black, brown, Indigenous Americans" who had "clung to a thread of faith in Western ideals".


best, book, 2025, taylor jenkins reid Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins ReidCredit: Amazon

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Reid Jenkin's Atmosphere takes readers to 1980s NASA, where Joan Goodwin discovers that space travel might be possible for women scientists. But this is about more than just rockets—it's a tale about love, ambition, and finding your place in the universe, literally and figuratively.

Reid, whose previous novels include The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & the Six, spent months in Houston researching this specific space program. Reviewers are calling it "both vast and intimate—like looking up at the sky and somehow finding yourself in it," which is precisely the kind of beautiful, devastating description that makes you add a book to your cart immediately.

"LOVED this on audiobook," wrote a Reddit user. "I think the narration made the science and technical stuff more accessible and interesting."


best, book, 2025, V.E. Schwab Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. SchwabCredit: Amazon

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

V.E. Schwab's Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil uses vampirism to explore the stories of three women across different centuries—Maria in 1530s Spain, Charlotte in Georgian England, and Alice in contemporary times—who turn to the undead to escape patriarchal oppression.

Schwab, who has 25+ books under her belt, is "at her most raw, her most autobiographical and maybe her most damning". It's vampire fiction for people who thought they were over their vampire fiction phase.


best, book, 2025, nikki erlich The Poppy Fields by Nikki ErlichCredit: Amazon

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlich

What if you could sleep away your grief? That's the haunting question at the heart of Nikki Erlick's sophomore novel, The Poppy Fields, which follows four strangers on a journey to a controversial treatment center in the California desert.

What makes Erlick's work so powerful is her ability to tackle profound questions about healing and human resilience. As one reviewer noted, the book "explores the path of grief and healing, a journey at once profoundly universal and unique to every person". The central question at the heart of this novel—how far are we willing to go to be healed?—resonates deeply in a world where mental health struggles are more visible than ever before.


best, book, 2025, chuck wendig The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck WendigCredit: Amazon

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig

Chuck Wendig, the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents, returns with The Staircase in the Woods, a horror novel that transforms childhood friendship into something far more sinister.

The premise is deceptively simple: five high school friends are bound by a mysterious oath. During a camping trip, they discover a strange staircase leading to nowhere—when one friend climbs up and never returns, their lives are shattered. Twenty years later, the stairs reappear, and the remaining friends must confront what really happened all those years ago.

Vulture named it one of their Best Books of the Year (So Far), and it's easy to see why—Wendig has created a horror story that's more interested in the monsters we carry within us than the ones lurking in dark corners.


best, book, 2025, colum mccann Twist by Colum McCannCredit: Amazon

Twist by Colum McCann

Irish literary master Colum McCann returns with Twist, a stunning novel that plunges us deep beneath the ocean's surface to explore the fragile cables that connect our digital world—and the equally fragile bonds that connect us to each other.

The story follows Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist who joins a cable-laying ship to write about submarine communications cables. What begins as a straightforward assignment becomes something much more complex as Fennell encounters Conway, an enigmatic operations manager whose mysterious past drives the narrative into unexpected territory.

Why these books matter

These aren't just ten great books—they represent literature's response to our current moment with urgency, empathy, and unflinching honesty. In a time when the world can feel overwhelming, these authors offer something precious: proof that stories can still surprise, challenge, and ultimately change us.

So yes, add these ten essential books to your accumulating reading list! And really prioritize them—the conversations they spark today will be the ones that matter most tomorrow.

From Your Site Articles
books
CultureJoy
Schools

Parents complained about 'offensive' book, so the principal read it to the entire school

Apparently learning about the Civil Rights movement is "inappropriate."

Jess Piper/Twitter
School responded to a parent's book complaint by reading it aloud to the entire student body

Schools often have to walk a fine line when it comes to parental complaints. Diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and preferences for what kids see and hear will always mean that schools can't please everyone all the time, so teachers and educators have to discern what's best for the whole, broad spectrum of kids in their care.

Sometimes, what's best is hard to discern. Sometimes it's absolutely not.

Such was the case when a parent at a St. Louis elementary school complained in a Facebook group about a book that was read to her 7-year-old. The parent wrote:

"Anyone else check out the read a loud book on Canvas for 2nd grade today? Ron's Big Mission was the book that was read out loud to my 7 year old. I caught this after she watched it bc I was working with my 3rd grader. I have called my daughters school. Parents, we have to preview what we are letting the kids see on there."

Fittingly, the Facebook group was titled "Concerned Parents of the Rockwood School District."

book bans, books, reading, elementary school, schools, education, racism, kids books, childrens books, parents, teachers Parents have always been concerned with what their kids are reading; but lately it's getting out of hand. Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash

The book in question, Ron's Big Mission, highlights a true story from the childhood of Challenger astronaut Ron McNair, who had experienced discrimination as a child in South Carolina because he was Black. In 1959, when he was nine years old, McNair wanted to check out books at the library, but the librarian told him the library didn't loan books to "coloreds." McNair refused to leave the library until he was allowed to check out books. Rather than give him a library card, the librarian called the police, who ultimately convinced her to just let him check out books.

Seriously, what issue could this parent possibly take with such an inspiring story of a kid standing up to injustice and fighting for the right to educate himself?

This was a child who single-handedly changed a library's racial segregation policy and grew up to be an astronaut—a genuine, real-life hero. What is there to take issue with? The parent didn't specify, so we're left to conjecture, but bad reviews for the book on Goodreads and Amazon might give us a clue: Some readers have taken offense at the way the book portrays white people.

"I understand racial diversity is important but this is just awful. I don't think it's appropriate for kids because they don't live in a world where black kids can't rent books or do the same things white kids can do. It's a pretty level playing field now," one reviewer wrote on Goodreads.

"Children are supposed to learn how to love all cultures not hate all cultures," added another 1-star reviewer.

Cue up the tiny violins.

book bans, books, reading, elementary school, schools, education, racism, kids books, childrens books, parents, teachers The old "reverse racism" trope! Giphy

Rockwood Education Equity and Diversity Director Brittany Hogan told KMOX News Radio that after hearing of the complaint, other parents responded immediately in the book's defense.

"They were saying this is amazing that they were buying copies of the book," Hogan said. "One of our parents came out and said she was going to purchase a copy for every second-grader at the elementary school that her children attends."

Hogan called McNair a hero and said, "He deserves to be celebrated. His story deserves to be told to our children. It's important that we continue to move in a space that embeds diverse curriculum."

And the school responded in the best possible way—by announcing the book was going to be read aloud to the whole student body via Zoom. That's how you shut down a bigot. Boom.

Here's Pond Elementary Principal Carlos Diaz-Granados reading "Ron's Big Mission" to students via Zoom and sharing why he thinks it's an important book for kids:

- YouTube www.youtube.com

In the years since this incident, book bans have sadly become even more of an issue in many parts of America. During the 2023-2024 school year, over 10,000 books were banned in public schools; a rapidly accelerating number. It's too easy for special interest groups and politicians to hide behind the idea of "protecting kids" from inappropriate content, when in reality, any books written by or about people of color or the LQBTQ+ community are being overwhelmingly targeted just for existing.

Schools have a responsibility in this battle. While it's not their place to adopt a formal religious, racial, or political position, they are supposed to be environments where all are welcome. And it's their job to fight for their students' right to learn and access information. Kudos to the Pond Elementary Team for doing the right thing here.

This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

From Your Site Articles
school
SchoolsEducation
Trending Stories