LISNews: Librarian News

The future of e-books in libraries is not entirely rosy, however. Library associations throughout the country are responding forcefully to a troubling change in the relationship between libraries and publishers with regard to the latter's digital content. Certain publishers, such as Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, refuse to sell their e-books to libraries. Others, such as Penguin, have lately restricted the titles, authors and digital formats they make available to libraries.

This morning Wisconsin Public Radio devoted an hour to discuss the role libraries play in our lives and communities. Guests: --Wayne Wiegand (WEE-ghend), library historian and author of books including Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland. He's a former professor at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison --John Cole, Founding Director of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress

Beyond temporary power outages and minor wind and water damage, libraries along the Atlantic coast weathered Superstorm Sandy fairly well, considering all the flooding and destruction inflicted on homes and businesses. Although some areas of central New Jersey were still without power six days after the storm, many public libraries in affected states were powered up and serving as community support centers for residents without electricity, internet access, or heat.

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Supreme Court seeks a way around "perpetual copyright" on foreign goods
"If you were the lawyer for the Toyota distributor, [or] if you were the lawyer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or you are the lawyer for a university library," said Breyer. "Your client comes to you and says, 'My God, I just read the Supreme Court opinion. It says that we can't start selling these old books, or lending them, or putting them in our word processor, or reselling the Toyota, [or] displaying the Picasso without the permission of the copyright holder.' What, as their lawyer, do you tell them? Do you tell them, 'hey, no problem?' Or, do you tell them, 'you might become a law violator?' Or, do you tell them, 'I better litigate this?' What do you tell them?"

Notably, Olson didn't back away from the more extreme consequences of his client's win at the 2nd Circuit. If Wiley wins, he said, institutions like museums and libraries might need to get licenses from copyright owners for their activities.