Long Days, Short Nights

Posted June 29, 2026 by Jake Goldman

Hello! I have been enjoying the long days, short nights, and summer verdancy!  Whether you’re taking the opportunity to fast-track your program with summer courses or enjoying a much deserved break, I hope you are enjoying the summer too and making plenty of time for yourself. I myself will not be taking any summer courses but I am excited to say that when I resume my studies in September it will be in the form of an independent study with the potential to put into practice some of what I have learned at Simmons heretofore. Since enrolling, I have been seeking ways to collaboratively engage with both Simmons and my local library and employer, the Montague Public Libraries (MPL), and now that I have completed a few semesters it feels like an excellent time to apply some of what I have studied to the real world. With the support and guidance of our fantastic West Campus Coordinator Eric Poulin and in collaboration with MPL staff I will be conducting a diversity audit of MPL’s adult and children’s print materials housed at the Carnegie Library in Turners Falls, which serves as the system’s main branch. In preparation for that undertaking I will be doing a deep dive into the relevant literature over the next few months. But I’ll be taking plenty of time for light summer reading too! I have been enjoying the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges, Enshitification by Cory Doctorow and The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Holding. I also recently completed Liu Cixin’s epic Three-Body Problem trilogy (and the fanfic followup Death’s End by Baoshu) and I cannot recommend the series highly enough, particularly if you like mind-bending SciFi. Happy reading!