April 2009

Judging That Book…

Blogger Pete writes: “there are more great book covers published each year than there are great books published each year.”

This, and some other interesting observations about BAD COVERS, GREAT BOOKS at San Francisco’s Green Apple Books blog, the Green Apple Core. Chime in with your observations…

Ding Dong, It’s Your Library Books

Princeton NJ Library Director Leslie Burger is announcing a new service that will enable patrons to request books by phone or on-line, and have them delivered to their door by the USPS at no charge. The Central Jersey Library Cooperative provided funds for the grant, and the program will be tracked to measure its success over a period of two years.

Also bits & pieces about the library book sale and some top-selling author appearances in (Princeton) Town Topics.

A Map of the Land of Books

This map by German illustrator Alphons Woelfle (1938) shows the extent and the divisions of Bücherland (the Land of Books). The Land consists of about half a dozen distinct territories, most of which are explicitly named: Leserrepublik (Reader’s Republic), Vereinigte Buchhandelsstaaten (United States of Booksellers), Recensentia (a realm for Reviewers), Makulaturia (Waste Paper Land), and Poesia (Poetry). The capital of the US of B is the city of Officina (Latin for workshop, and the origin of our ‘office’; the name seems remarkably unremarkable. Possibly there is an old reference or a German word-joke here we’re not getting).

The Complete eBook Reader Line Up

As most ebook readers promise to get bigger some new e-book readers plan to get smaller. The new machine will be smaller, and of course, cheaper. The price will certainly be more attractive but by the screen size they automatically reduce the cost so its yet another eink reader albeit smaller.
So who are the eInk and ebook reading devices out there today?
Amazon, Sony, iRex, Samsung, Fujitsu, Plastic logic, Brother, Foxit, and Onyx.

This list is growing with many stalling or failing and rumours of a Barnes and Noble reader, a Murdoch Newscorp one, a Hearst one etc. This is without the iPhone and mobile apps, online readers and of course the ultimate reader – the book.

What’s the President Reading?

According to the The Book Bench/New Yorker, The President has told the New York Times Magazine that he gets so tired of briefings that he has taken to reading a novel in the evenings—“Netherland,” by Joseph O’Neill (reviewed here by James Wood). The last time a book was mentioned in the same sentence as Obama (which was just last week), it went straight to the top. I guess “The Open Veins of Latin America” wasn’t the relaxing read he was looking for?

Customer Service: Someone is Always Watching

David Lee King posted an interesting article on his blog yesterday about our patrons in our online environments. Specifically, Mr. King provided three twitter posts from librarians complaining about patrons.

It reminds me a little of that part in Ocean’s Eleven where Andy Garcia points to the cameras in the casino to tell Julia Roberts that “someone is always watching.” Librarians (and we aren’t the only ones – one can easily find rant blogs by waitresses, airline attendants, etc.) create virtual smoking lounges on the internet for kvetching about patrons, managers, co-workers, board members, etc. We post our angst for one another in commiseration. And, because we leave out names and characteristics (and our own names and places of business), we assume that we are under the radar – of supervisors, of patrons, of co-workers who might rat us out to get better desk hours.

David Lee King posted an interesting article on his blog yesterday about our patrons in our online environments. Specifically, Mr. King provided three twitter posts from librarians complaining about patrons.

It reminds me a little of that part in Ocean’s Eleven where Andy Garcia points to the cameras in the casino to tell Julia Roberts that “someone is always watching.” Librarians (and we aren’t the only ones – one can easily find rant blogs by waitresses, airline attendants, etc.) create virtual smoking lounges on the internet for kvetching about patrons, managers, co-workers, board members, etc. We post our angst for one another in commiseration. And, because we leave out names and characteristics (and our own names and places of business), we assume that we are under the radar – of supervisors, of patrons, of co-workers who might rat us out to get better desk hours.

Perhaps this is old news. We need only read stories like this one about Sally Stern-Hamilton to know that our pseudonyms are not as clever as we think. But, even if we are clever, is it still ok? I’m far less comfortable patronizing a business that I know complains openly about its customers. Is it as acceptable for a library, like other businesses and organizations, to complain (albeit anonymously) about its customers, or should we be held to a different standard because of the services that we offer, or even how we are funded? Should we keep our comments off of the World Wide Gossip Column?

Final Four in Sacramento

Four unnamed finalists have been chosen to contend for the Directorship of the Sacramento Public Library reports the Sacramento Bee.

The new director will replace Anne Marie Gold, who resigned amid controversy Dec. 1 after seven years on the job. During Gold’s tenure, staff morale plunged and three people were charged with felonies in an alleged overbilling scheme that is still winding its way through Sacramento Superior Court. A grand jury investigation alleged mismanagement and suggested she be fired. The board ultimately paid $25,000 in return for Gold’s resignation and a promise she not sue.

Interim library chief Phil Batchelor, a seasoned expert at turning around troubled agencies, was hired for $139,930 over seven months to stabilize the system and help find a permanent head.

Check out the ‘popular comment’ on this story and holla back.

It’s a test designed to invoke an emotional response

From GPSes to synthetic rabbits, more and more gadgets are being blessed with the ability to speak. Two prominent examples from recent weeks are the Amazon Kindle 2 and Apple’s latest iPod Shuffle. Can their computery speech pass for human? We thought the point would be best explored by having the two gadgets act out a scene from the ultimate movie about man vs. machine, Blade Runner. Consider the video above speech technology’s 2009 audition — and judge for yourself who’s the better actor.

Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Books Deal

The Justice Department has begun an inquiry into the antitrust implications of Google’s settlement with authors and publishers over its Google Book Search service, two people briefed on the matter said Tuesday.

Lawyers for the Justice Department have been in conversations in recent weeks with various groups opposed to the settlement, including the Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog. More recently, Justice Department lawyers notified the parties to the settlement, including Google, and representatives for the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, that they were looking into various antitrust issues related to the far-reaching agreement.

Full story here.

Free Speech Groups Criticize Dismissal of WI Library Board Members

Four members of a library board in West Bend, WI were dismissed last week for refusing to remove controversial books from the library’s young adult section—and yesterday, the ABFFE, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center criticized the firings.

The groups sent a letter to the West Bend Common Council stating that the dismissals threatened free speech in two ways: punishing the board members for attempting to apply objective criteria in the selection of books, and pressuring the library to remove the controversial books. The letter said, “The role of a public library and its board members is to serve the entire community and to evaluate books and other library materials on the basis of objective criteria. By removing half the members of the library board, the Common Council is imposing its opinions on the rest of the community.”

The controversy began in February when two patrons complained that the library’s YA section included fiction and nonfiction books about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. Publishers Weekly has the story.