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Publishers Weekly reports on the additional print-on-demand run for 'Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down'.

Epicenter Publisher Kent Sturgis expects interest in the book to remain strong "at least through the vice presidential debate set for October 7."

A convicted sex offender was banned from town parks and Wake County libraries this week after he quizzed parents about their children.
Carlton Wood was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child in the late 1980s in Mecklenburg County, police say.

From the L.A. Times blog -- Jacket Copy: Book News and Information

Chances are Sarah Palin is having a pretty good day. Yesterday she was governor of Alaska; today she's John McCain's running mate.

Kaylene Johnson must be nearly as happy. She is the Alaskan author who penned "Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down." Will people wanting to know more about the Alaskan governor turn to this bio to tell them more?

Full blog entry here.

Today is the 45th anniversary of the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington D.C.

You don't have to be a centenarian to remember it (this reporter was in junior high school in the District), but Della Jones, 105, remembers it as a very special day...it was the day of her college graduation at age 53. She since went on to become a teacher and librarian, and now at the age of 105, still lives on her own in the same house in Williamstown, KY that she's been in for 85 years, despite being a double amputee and confined to a wheelchair.

"Oh, I thought it was wonderful," Della said of the historic 1963 speech. "I think we all should have a dream for our lives and work towards that dream."

This one turned up in one of my email alerts today, it's from the Lake Oswego (Oregon) Police Blotter:

8/14/08 4:33 p.m. An argument broke out between a drag queen and another patron in the parking lot of the library.

Most domestic animals do not get their own biographies, but Dewey Readmore, formerly of the Spencer Iowa Library, was not just any cat. He was put in the book return one January night in 1988 and became perhaps the most well-known and beloved of all library cats. He died in 2006 at the ripe old age of 19, having been lovingly raised by librarian Vicky Myron and enjoyed by countless library visitors.

Here's a description of the book from the publisher, Hachette, and additional background at the library's website.

The Friends of the Library are selling postcards of Dewey; to buy some in support of the library click the link.

The Boston Globe editorializes: The search for a new president for the BPL is nearly complete. On Thursday, the library trustees will meet the finalists.

The library's former president, Bernard Margolis, left the job in June after trustees decided not to renew his contract - and after years of disputes with Mayor Menino. Praised for nurturing the central library in Copley Square, Margolis was also criticized for neglecting the branches.

Are Bostonians being given the entire story?

In the name of transparency, the trustees' meeting - where the finalists will be interviewed - will be open to the public. But this transparency comes late. The list of finalists has largely been a secret, with media reports naming only former Massachusetts Senate president Thomas Birmingham and Amy Ryan, chief librarian for Hennepin County, Minn., as candidates. But the finalists' names won't be officially announced until Thursday.

John McArthur, former dean of Harvard Business School and one of a team that has been vetting the candidates has told the Globe that the process is meant to protect candidates' privacy. But a true public process would have given Bostonians a chance to assess the finalists.

She's a keyboard wizard.

Joanna Axelrod, youth services librarian at Escondido Public Library’s East Valley branch, is known for her speedy texts that update friends and family about stuff both big and small. In June, she entered a speed texting competition sponsored by LG Electronics. At 28, the oldest entrant, she didn't win, but she did place, receiving a trip to New York and tickets to The Lion King. Story from Today's Local News (Escondido CA).

Consider yourself a geek? You'd be in good company at San Diego's thirty-ninth annual Comic-Con(vention), which opened yesterday. It started as a comic book conference way back when, but has since expanded into a multitude of entertainment formats.

Reports from Reuters, E Online, NYTimes, Empire OnLine, Publishers Weekly, AP, various live-bloggers and more.

Respondents to the library-funded survey -- conducted by the Public Opinion Laboratory at Northern Illinois University at a cost of $12,000 -- were asked to rank the importance of 13 types of materials and 13 programs and services. Their choices were "very important," "somewhat important," "not too important" and "not important at all."

With one exception, all materials and programs were ranked either "very" or "somewhat" important by a majority of the respondents. Video games for children and young adults were rated "unimportant" by more than half of the respondents, all of whom were over age 18.