Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans.  It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea.  Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles).  With over 280 million people, Indonesia is the world's fourth-most-populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country.  Java, the world's most populous island, is home to more than half of the country's population.  The name Indonesia derives from the Greek words Indos (Ἰνδός) and nesos (νῆσος), meaning "Indian islands".  The name dates back to the 19th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia.  In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, Malayunesians—for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malay Archipelago".  In the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia.  They preferred Malay Archipelago (Dutch: Maleische Archipel); the Netherlands East Indies (Nederlandsch Oost Indië), popularly Indië; the East (de Oost); and Insulinde.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia    

June 12, 2024  Twice a day, tourists gather in Boston to watch a turtle eat. 

Not just any turtle, of course:  this is Myrtle the Turtle, the oldest and most famous inhabitant of the New England Aquarium’s 4-story ocean tank.  The New England Aquarium opened in 1969, and Myrtle arrived just a year later from the Provincetown Marine Aquarium, which was shutting down.  Since then, Myrtle has lived in the New England Aquarium's Giant Ocean Tank.  The 200,000 gallon tank is the centerpiece of the aquarium, and Myrtle is the centerpiece of the tank.  She's four-and-a-half feet long and weighs about 550 pounds—though, like many of us, her weight fluctuates.   She’s now probably somewhere in her 80s, but may be up to 95 years old, according to ocean tank manager Michael O’Neill.  He said scientists aren’t exactly sure how long green sea turtles can live, but Myrtle is definitely elderly.  And at this age, she knows what she likes: back scratches, Brussels sprouts and her favorite napping places near the top of the tank.  https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/06/12/green-sea-turtle-new-england-aquarium    

Myrtle the Turtle is a children’s book written by Celeste Meiffren-Swango about a young, adventurous sea turtle in the Pacific Ocean who mistakes a plastic bag for a jellyfish, and realizes she needs help to keep her ocean home safe and beautiful.  This book educates kids—and their grown-ups—about the very real and striking problem of plastic pollution happening in our oceans and challenges us all to do our part to protect Myrtle and other ocean creatures.  https://shop.environmentamerica.org/products/myrtle-the-turtle-childrens-book    

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan’s signature created Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service as a federal holiday.  It’s celebrated annually on the third Monday in January.  The only national day of service, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first celebrated in 1986.  The first time all 50 states recognized the holiday was in 2000.  https://www.biography.com/activists/martin-luther-king-jr    

Ruth Johnson Colvin, the founder of a literacy initiative that has taught millions of people worldwide, died August 18, 2024 aged 107.  In the early 1960s, concern over low literacy rates in her community of Syracuse, New York, inspired Ms Colvin to launch a tutoring service in her basement that eventually grew into Literacy Volunteers of America.  Ms Colvin was an avid reader but had no experience in teaching when she opened a classroom in her basement in the 1960s.  In 1967, Literacy Volunteers was registered in New York State as a charity, then with 77 tutors and 100 students.  In the years that followed, Ms Colvin's organisation earned various private and public grants, allowing the corps to grow across the country and, later, around the world.  In 2002, Literacy Volunteers of America merged with Laubach Literacy International to become ProLiteracy, now with some 10,000 tutors in 42 US states and 60 other countries, offering lessons in reading and writing.  https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2edndkn197o   Thank you, reader.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2849  August 27, 2024