LISNews: Librarian News

A sad and shocking statement about the closing of all branches of the Free Library of Philadelphia from President and Director Siobhan Reardon.

We deeply regret to inform you that without the necessary budgetary legislation by the State Legislature in Harrisburg, the City of Philadelphia will not have the funds to operate our neighborhood branch libraries, regional libraries, or the Parkway Central Library after October 2, 2009.

Even as we remain hopeful that the State Legislature will act and pass the enabling funding legislation, we wanted to notify all of our customers of this very possible outcome. If you have any questions about impacts to Free Library services, call 215-686-5322, or visit the Free Library of Philadelphia website.

Little story in the Philadelphia Inquirer, implying (I think) that the closing message might be a marketing ploy of some sort.

For the past few months, staff at the Washington State Library have been working hard, exhaustively scouring the web and compiling quality resources to help library users across Washington State. The result? A thorough guide detailing resources and techniques to help you and your users navigate this tough economy. We've covered numerous subjects, including health and nutrition, family and parenting, finances, job-seeking, and a whole lot more.

Check it out now at http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/hardtimes/.

According to the French publishing group Hachette: Hardback books could be killed off if Amazon’s e-books and Google’s digital library force publishers to slash prices, warns Arnaud Nourry, Hachette's chief executive.

Mr Nourry said unilateral pricing by Google, Amazon and other e-book retailers such as Barnes & Noble could destroy publishers’ profits (not to mention what is happening to bookstores).

He said publishers were “very hostile” to Amazon’s pricing strategy – over which the online retailer failed to consult publishers – to charge $9.99 for all its e-books in the US. He also pointed to plans by Google to put millions of out-of-copyright books online for public use.

“On the one hand, you have millions of books for free where there is no longer an author to pay and, on the other hand, there are very recent books, bestsellers at $9.99, which means that all the rest will have to be sold at between zero and $9.99,” Mr Nourry said.

Mr Nourry’s comments come as analysts predict a growth spurt for the still-niche electronic reader market, with wireless devices from Sony, Plastic Logic and others due to compete with the Kindle.

Financial Times reports.

As the beleaguered library system loses more than half the money it normally spends on bestsellers, databases and replacing worn children's books, a coalition of local booksellers is stepping up to help out the libraries and, perhaps, their own bottom lines.

Beginning next month, Santa Cruz Public Libraries is expected to roll out a "wish list" with bookstores around the county in an effort to restock the system's shelves and keep money in local tills, too. Customers can buy the books and the stores will donate them to the library. Stores that have expressed interest include: Santa Cruz: Atlantis Fantasyworld, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Borders, Gateways Books & Gifts, Literary Guillotine|Capitola: Borders, Capitola Book Cafe, Kaleidoscope|Aptos: Bookworks.

For information on donating to the libraries or volunteering, contact Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries at 420-5798, e-mail friends@santacruzpl.org, or visit fscpl.org.