This week in the Reference Library

Bill McKibben wrote the book that introduced climate change to a general audience, back in 1989, before most people had heard the term. Twenty-plus books later, he’s still writing a free newsletter tracking the fight in real time.

Everyday needs — school, groceries, work, a doctor’s visit — within a 15-minute walk or bike ride of home. Carlos Moreno coined the term; this is what it means.

A free Library of Congress database of historical American newspapers, 1770 to 1963, fully searchable by keyword and date. No login, no paywall — read the actual coverage.

Environmental lawyer David R. Boyd traces the growing body of law — from New Zealand’s Te Urewera Act to court rulings in Ecuador, India, and the US — that grants legal rights to rivers, forests, and ecosystems, treating nature as a rights-holding entity rather than property.

Stewart Brand’s original counterculture catalog, published starting in 1968, pointed people toward tools for self-sufficient living decades before “alternative economy” was a phrase. Every issue is scanned and free to read — and it’s where New Whole Earth got its inspiration.

The Repair Association is the nonprofit coalition behind Right to Repair laws, tracking state-by-state legislation and publishing know-your-rights guides for fixing what you own — phones, appliances, even tractors.