Ruth Levitt obituary
Other lives: Expert on NHS community health councils who also worked in public policy, politics and publishing
Alice in Westminster: The Political Life of Alice Bacon by Rachel Reeves – review
This biography of Labour’s champion of comprehensive schools reveals a woman who was loyal to her party and passionate about her constituents’ concerns
Monica Crowley accused of plagiarism as she joins Trump team
HarperCollins has cancelled sales of What the (Bleep) Just Happened by the incoming senior White House staffer, following accusations of extensive copying
The 100 best nonfiction books: No 49 – The American Language by HL Mencken (1919)
This declaration of linguistic independence by the renowned US journalist and commentator marked a crucial new chapter in American prose
Authors and teachers pick a children’s book for Christmas
Education Guardian’s Christmas gift ideas from teachers and authors, with Anne Fine, Holly Smale, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Michael Morpurgo and Julia Donaldson
School library book returned more than 120 years late – with no fine
Title given back to school in Hereford by granddaughter of ex-pupil Arthur Boycott, who became a distinguished pathologist
The non-western books that every student should read
Leading authors pick international classics that should be on every students’ bookshelves, but are often neglected by universities
Giles Waterfield obituary
Director of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, exhibition organiser and historian
School libraries change lives. Cutting them would be disastrous
They empower and educate children, and help with social mobility. With public libraries also being closed, we need their school counterparts more than ever
Want your students to love learning? Get them to the library
Library partnerships are a vital resource for many schools, but funding cuts threaten their future
The truth about boys and books: they read less – and skip pages
Huge academic study into reading habits shows that young males choose easy books and fail to read thoroughly or correctly
Schoolgirls with autism share experiences in young adult novel
M in the Middle draws on ups and downs of Limpsfield Grange schoolgirls’ lives and how autism is different for girls
Ditching classics at A-level is little short of a tragedy
Classics underpins much of the modern world; the AQA exam board’s decision to end A-levels in classical civilisation, archaeology and history of art is lamentable
Think libraries are obsolete? Think again
Kindles and the internet cannot replace libraries - they are part of the social glue that binds us. The fight is on throughout the country to save them
Peter Blundell Jones obituary
Historian of architecture who championed the human side of modernism