C&RL News October 2020  468

Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-mail: pattillo@
email.unc.edu

Media freedom
“Media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade. 
Among Free countries in Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report, 19 
percent (16 countries) have endured a reduction in their press freedom scores 
over the past five years.”
Sarah Repucci, “Media Freedom: A Downward Spiral,” Freedom House, 2019, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom 
-and-media/2019/media-freedom-downward-spiral (retrieved September 8, 2020).

First-time college students
“For beginning postsecondary students in 2011–12, the average total cost of 
attendance was approximately $20,500. 73.4 percent received grant aid, and, 
of those who received grant aid, the average amount received was approxi-
mately $7,900. As of 2017, of students who first began postsecondary education 
in 2011–12, 56.2 percent had earned a credential at any institution attended; 
12.1 percent were still enrolled at any institution; and 31.7 percent were not 
enrolled in spring 2017.”
Joshua Pretlow, Deonte Jackson, and Michael Bryan, “A 2017 Follow-up: A Look at 2011–12 First-Time Postsecondary 
Students Six Years Later,” National Center for Education Statistics, August 13, 2020, https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch 
/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020236 (retrieved September 8, 2020).

Audiobooks
“Audiobooks have been riding a wave of popularity in the past three years, and it
appears that lockdown only intensified our engagement with the spoken word. 
A recent report by Deloitte put some numbers on the phenomenal rise. Global 
sales have been growing at 25-30 percent per annum for the past three years 
and will hit $3.5bn in 2020, driven by the US and China, which each make up 
around a third of the market (for comparison, global print book sales are a 
whopping $145bn per annum).”
Alex Preston, “A Word in Your Ear… Why the Rise of Audiobooks Is a Story Worth Celebrating,” The Guardian, August 
2, 2020, http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/02/a-word-in-your-ear-why-the-rise-of-audiobooks-is-a-story 
-worth-celebrating (retrieved September 4, 2020).

Cryptocurrency
“In July 2020, the top 10 crypto wallet apps increased net new installs approxi-
mately 81.4 percent year over year. Cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly 
mainstream in emerging markets, particularly in regions of Africa.”
Madeline Lenahan, “Crypto Apps See Highest Growth on Record in July 2020,” Apptopia, August 20, 2020, https://
blog.apptopia.com/crypto-apps-see-highest-growth-on-record-in-july (retrieved September 4, 2020).

Remote instruction
Many K-12 students are not back into school buildings this fall. Instead, they are 
participating in fully remote instruction. “That’s a key finding from an EdSurge/
Social Context Labs analysis of 375 school district reopening plans from around 
the country and across a diversity of geographies, COVID-19 infection rates, and 
poverty levels. As of September 3, [they] found that 356 districts (95 percent) 
planned to offer remote instruction. Meanwhile, just 137 planned in-person 
instruction. Fewer still—104 (28 percent)—planned to offer hybrid instruction 
in which students split time learning remotely and in-person.”
Rachel Burstein, “Back to School or Back to Remote Learning? Depends on Where You Live,” EdSurge News, September 
4, 2020,https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-09-04-back-to-school-or-back-to-remote-learning-depends-on-where 
-you-live (retrieved September 8, 2020).

mailto:pattillo%40email.unc.edu?subject=Gary%20Pattillo
mailto:pattillo%40email.unc.edu?subject=Gary%20Pattillo
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-and-media/2019/media-freedom-downward-spiral
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-and-media/2019/media-freedom-downward-spiral
https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020236
https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2020236
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/02/a-word-in-your-ear-why-the-rise-of-audiobooks-is-a-story -worth-celebrating
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/02/a-word-in-your-ear-why-the-rise-of-audiobooks-is-a-story -worth-celebrating
https://blog.apptopia.com/crypto-apps-see-highest-growth-on-record-in-july
https://blog.apptopia.com/crypto-apps-see-highest-growth-on-record-in-july
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-09-04-back-to-school-or-back-to-remote-learning-depends-on-where -you-live
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-09-04-back-to-school-or-back-to-remote-learning-depends-on-where -you-live