LISNews: Librarian News

Novelist Moriah Jovan has come up with a plan for a bookstore without books.

From Media Bistro's Galley Cat, Ron Hogan writes:

"You want a book you can hold in your hands," Jovan fantasizes. "You go to Quaint Bookstore and they do not have what you want in their meager stock. NO PROBLEM! You sit down at one of the book stations. You browse the computer catalog (probably Ingram or Baker & Taylor). You pick your book. You punch in your credit card number (tied to the store's point-of-sale system). The order goes directly to one of the Espresso (print-on-demand) machines behind you. You wait 10 or 15 minutes (by which time you've probably already ordered another 3 books), and out pops your book. You are GOOD TO GO."

Jovan's dream store also allows customers to test drive e-book readers, and maybe even keeps a few old-timey books around on a second floor, for those booksellers who aren't ready to let go completely. So what do you think? Is this where bookstores are headed? Is it where they should be headed?

Is a library without books next?

An archaeological survey being conducted at the site of a proposed addition to the Peoria (IL) Public Library uncovered the remains of nine individuals. The site, intended as space for a 12,000 square foot addition, was a public cemetery from 1842-1875.

Because of a law that requires living relatives to be identified and contacted so that they can authorize removal and reburial of remains, the library has had to alter their construction plans. More information is available at the Peoria Journal Star.

A water main break sent water rushing into the library at Harris Stowe State University in St. Louis, MO this afternoon.

Photos and Video from KSDK News.

According to a Harris Stowe representative, the break is near the intersection of Compton and Laclede. The campus was closed as a security precaution.

The entrance near the break was under approximately two feet of water at 5 p.m. Nearby streets were closed until the water recedes.

Additional coverage from KTVI.

If you had the choice, what type of facility would you like adjoining your library?

Award-winning architect Moshe Safdie, who designed Salt Lake City's showcase Main Library, has "great concern" with Mayor Ralph Becker's proposal for a cop shop on the downtown cultural block, calling the resulting arrangement a "fundamental transformation for the worse."

Safdie -- along with fellow library architects Steve Crane and Mark Johnson -- suggested that a "museum or performing-arts building" might work on Library Square, but warned that "a police station and emergency operations center is hardly a complementary use to the public life of the park."

The Library Board voted Tuesday to oppose placing a police headquarters a book's throw from the capital's cultural icon. The board argues the cop complex -- to be funded by a $125 million bond if voters approve it in November -- is "incompatible" and poses a philosophical threat to the freedom-of-speech nature of Library Square.