LISNews: Librarian News

The Harry Potter series has been voted Australian children's favourite read in a poll of more than 23,000 readers. Children aged five to 17 were asked to nominate their favourite book in the Angus & Robertson poll, with 60,000 votes received from more than 23,000 children in one month.

Laura Mallory wants to put an Avada Kedavra curse on the Harry Potter book series.
The working mother of four admits she's never read any of the six books published thus far in the seven-book series by J.K. Rowling. The books are "too long" (book five alone was 870 pages) and she works a part-time job, Mallory writes on her "appeal form for instructional materials." She hasn't read them, yet she wants them off the shelves of the Gwinnett County Public School system libraries. Gwinnett Daily Post - Griffin,GA has the rest of this one, it gets funnier.

London-based Bloomsbury Publishing moved into the digital era Tuesday, launching its first 24 digital downloads after a year in which boy wizard Harry Potter helped boost profits by 24 percent.

"Our first 24 titles went up an hour ago, and it's a very exciting initiative, because although it's not a big area now, it will be in the future," Chairman Nigel Newton said. "We want to stake out our territory," he added.

Proving that her boy wizard hasn't lost his magic, J.K. Rowling's ``Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,'' won the WHSmith Book of the Year prize at the 17th annual British Book Awards.

Alan Bennett, 71, the actor, author and playwright renowned for his deadpan wit, was named Reader's Digest Author of the Year.

Rowling and Bennett were among a dozen authors to be honored at a swanky, televised dinner for 1,200 guests at London's serene Grosvenor House hotel. Lauren Bacall, Richard E. Grant, and other book-loving celebrities presented the gold trophies, shaped like the nib of a fountain pen and giving the awards their nickname, the ``Nibbies.''

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