The Newton Free Library will welcome Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski for a program on The Making of the New Collegiate Dictionary on Tuesday, September 29 at 7pm. With its deep red cover, bull’s-eye logo and signature thumb notches, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is an American icon. It’s the bestselling hardcover book after the Bible and the stylebook reference for American publishing and journalism. It’s also brand new: the Twelfth Edition combines these iconic elements with revisions based on two decades of online data about how words are used and which words are looked up most–and least. A book-lover’s book in the age of AI-slop, it presents facts about language and usage and tells the truth about words. Join this program to hear the history of this dictionary and how the new landmark edition was created, presented by one of its editors.