https://ossus.com/blog Writing on intelligence and the institutions that keep culture alive. Published by OSSUS. en Sun, 11 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/a-learning-curve-ball https://ossus.com/blog/a-learning-curve-ball The stage where your ambition races ahead of your ability, and why the awkwardness is worth staying with. Karin Wannerud field-notes Sun, 11 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/who-s-afraid-of-the-big-banned-book https://ossus.com/blog/who-s-afraid-of-the-big-banned-book A student in tears, a book no one should name, and the censorship that leaves no mark on the shelf. Karin Wannerud field-notes Sun, 04 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/in-search-of-the-cross-curricular-unicorn https://ossus.com/blog/in-search-of-the-cross-curricular-unicorn Cinnamon buns, two devoted teachers, and the gaps between librarians, users and developers that no system quite closes. Karin Wannerud field-notes Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/who-teaches-the-librarian-to-teach-ai https://ossus.com/blog/who-teaches-the-librarian-to-teach-ai Everyone suddenly expects the librarian to explain AI. But who taught them, and who gets to decide what library AI becomes. Karin Wannerud field-notes Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/becoming-a-reading-school https://ossus.com/blog/becoming-a-reading-school The last book a student recommended to you, and why that quiet moment tells you more about a school than any test score. Karin Wannerud institutions Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/a-gamechanger https://ossus.com/blog/a-gamechanger Games are moving into one of Swedens most literary rooms, and the borrowing data is hard to ignore. Karin Wannerud field-notes Tue, 08 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/a-book-shaped-hole https://ossus.com/blog/a-book-shaped-hole Ban the phones, cancel the Chromebooks, and you have a quieter classroom, not a reader. What Sweden puts in the hole that New York leaves empty. Karin Wannerud field-notes Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/typecasting https://ossus.com/blog/typecasting A high school counselor said the loan would outlive her career. The milk carton agreed. She became a librarian anyway. Karin Wannerud field-notes Sat, 22 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/stories-from-the-inside https://ossus.com/blog/stories-from-the-inside How a handful of activists trying to get books to one jailed friend became thirty thousand books a year, and why that floor is now cracking. Karin Wannerud field-notes Fri, 14 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/thirty-years-two-metres-under https://ossus.com/blog/thirty-years-two-metres-under A shy girl hiding fairy books behind the encyclopedias, a man with 23,600 stolen volumes, and the two metre gap where a book can vanish for thirty years. Karin Wannerud field-notes Fri, 07 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/pride-prejudice https://ossus.com/blog/pride-prejudice From a Swedish sorority party to armed anime librarians, the many afterlives of the woman in the mousy cardigan. Karin Wannerud culture Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/is-there-really-a-reading-crisis https://ossus.com/blog/is-there-really-a-reading-crisis Sweden still scores above average in reading, and that is exactly what the numbers are hiding. Karin Wannerud field-notes Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/ai-fingerspitzengefuhl https://ossus.com/blog/ai-fingerspitzengefuhl Why the anger I expected at ALA never came, and why we’d refuse to sell Librar to anyone replacing a librarian. Karin Wannerud field-notes Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/borrowed-time https://ossus.com/blog/borrowed-time On school librarians, the hours that get away from them, and what they would do with just one more. Karin Wannerud institutions Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://ossus.com/blog/notes-from-a-first-ala https://ossus.com/blog/notes-from-a-first-ala First impressions from four days on the floor of the ALA conference in Chicago. Karin Wannerud field-notes Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT