September 2009

The shift toward digital books is helping small-fry authors and publishers to get in front of wider audiences than ever before. That trend is being reinforced today as Smashwords announces that it has a distribution agreement to get its books published on Sony’s new eBook portal.

Full story here.

Story on “Morning Edition” on NPR

Kelly Carmichael is a Sacramento State University senior studying to be an elementary school teacher. A book for one of her child development courses cost more than $170. But when a professor mentioned that she didn’t have to buy the book because she could rent it for the semester, Carmichael says it was a no-brainer.

“For any title that is for rent, you’ll see a sign that will show the new and used price, but also the rent-it-for price. So, for example, this text here, Infants, Child and Adolescents — new it would be $142, used it would be $106.50, and you can rent it for $58.34.”

Not sure how one can improve storybook time in a grownups lap or snuggling together before bed, but the Disney Company is giving it a try. A new digital subscription service allows families to access electronic replicas of hundreds of Disney books, from “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too” to “Hannah Montana: Crush-tastic!”

DisneyDigitalBooks.com, which is aimed at children ages 3 to 12, is organized by reading level. In the “look and listen” section for beginning readers, the books will be read aloud by voice actors to accompanying music (with each word highlighted on the screen as it is spoken). Another area is dedicated to children who read on their own. Find an unfamiliar word? Click on it and a voice says it aloud. Chapter books for teenagers and trivia features round out the service.

The Tory-run council defended the decision saying it was part of a wider plan to cut millions between now and March next year. But the plan, disclosed yesterday, has been criticised by staff and locals.
“Lots of staff feared for their jobs because of cuts, but no-one dreamed they would be replaced by a machine, one library assistant said. “

Montana State University has received almost $252,000 to expand its services to tribal college librarians across the United States and Canada.

One of 33 such grants in the nation, the three-year grant from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program will allow, among other things, more librarians to attend the week-long Tribal College Librarians Institute (TCLI) at MSU.

Pretty soon, library patrons might have to stick to their hometown libraries or pay a fee to use other libraries’ services, as local libraries struggle to cope with a proposed 40 percent cut in state aid.

A state Legislature conference committee voted Sunday to reduce state aid from $10 million to $6 million, setting the stage for votes in the House and Senate when their members return to work Tuesday.
[Thanks Ender!]

Pioneering system will allow users to borrow books from almost anywhere in the UK, using their existing membership card.

Guardian UK: From today, more than 4,000 libraries across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be open to any member of the public no matter where they live, thanks to a new scheme introduced by top librarians.

Visitors will be able to borrow books from any English, Welsh or Northern Irish public library just by showing their existing library card or proof of address, meaning that “now every library is a local library”, according to the Society of Chief Librarians, which announced the news today. The Society is also looking into introducing a one-library card system for public libraries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – similar to British Columbia’s “BC One” card, which gives holders access to any library in the province. They are also looking at the possibility of visitors being able to return books to different libraries than the ones they borrowed from.

Full story

Elementary students started the school year with more than one million new books in school libraries, and there are more on the way.
Last January, the government selected 72 Ontario-based vendors, and negotiated discounts up to 50 per cent for school boards. To date, this has saved boards about $3 million and allowed them to purchase 175,000 more books. More savings and additional books are expected during the school year.

A collection of Tupac Shakur’s lyrics and poems have been donated to a library in the US by the rapper’s mother.

Afeni Shakur gave the collection of writings to the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Atlanta University Center.

Over at The Resource Shelf Gary Price has posted a HUGE list of Web Resources for Banned Books Week.