LISNews: Librarian News

It's that time again; time for another story about strange things found in books as bookmarks from the NYT Papercuts Blog.

A few weeks ago in the NYT Book Review, Henry Alford wrote about strange things found stashed (and smashed) inside books, from money and photographs to baby’s teeth, insect corpses and pieces of superannuated bacon. There are some interesting replies to the papercuts blog too, from Unshelved cartoonist Bill Barnes, and this one from Liz G :"These leavers-behind of bacon in books may be literary, but they are certainly not true bacon lovers! While I might very well eat bacon while reading, I would never sacrifice an entire rasher to mark my place."

There seems to be a lot of skepticism about the bacon bookmark meme. A 2006 essay on Bibliobuffet mentions numerous sightings of errant breakfast meat in libraries from Florida to Nebraska to Washington State, but no first-hand accounts from librarians.

On the subject of bookmarks...in my book, there's an In My Book® bookmark (not bacon and for that matter, glatt kosher); if you'd like a complimentary sample to consider for your library or bookshop please send a stamped self-addressed (to your library) #10 envelope to In My Book, Attn: birdie, 39 Third Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231 (limited time offer through January 26, 2009, good only in the US). I'll send you one!

Via promotional emails from Powells.com (at least they haven't gone under yet)...

How The Dose Works--Seven days a week, the Daily Dose brings a reader's review to your Inbox — along with a chance to win free books!

Each day shortly after midnight we post the day's featured item on our web site and in our email to Daily Dose subscribers. The reader whose comments we use has until day's end (11:59 p.m. Pacific Time) to visit our special contest page and claim the prize. Each day we add $20 credit to the available total — until someone wins free books. Then the next day it all starts again.

To enter, write a short review of any item on Powells.com that you think we should tell Daily Dose subscribers about.

Click here to read the complete and official Daily Dose contest rules.

The latest issue of The Informed Librarian Online ( www.informedlibrarian.com) is up.

Every month we post a new Guest Forum which I am sure your readers would be interested in reading.

This month's Guest Forum is by: Chaunacey Dunklee, Senior Reference Librarian at Fullerton Public Library

The article is titled: Transparency Isn't Just for Windows Anymore

It can be accessed full-text during the month of January Here

From Shelf Awareness: One publisher's mistake; young readers' bonanza.

Komenar Publishing goofed on a print order and wound up with "200% more product than intended." As a result, Komenar is donating 1,000 copies of the trade paperback edition of Heroes Arise by Laurel Anne Hill, an illustrated sci-fi novel involving "a quest across an alien landscape," to public libraries that have bookmobiles for underserved people or programs to bring books into schools.

For more information, e-mail info@komenarpublishing.com or call 510-444-2261.