August 2013

Mr. Leonard’s louche characters and deadpan dialogue in novels like “Get Shorty” elevated the popular crime thriller to a higher literary shelf.

Full article

Via Gawker a librarian who is sick to death of the same kid always having read the greatest number of books at the summer reading program.

Nine-year old Tyler Weaver calls himself “the king of the reading club” at Hudson Falls Public Library. But now it seems Hudson Falls (NY) Public Library Director Marie Gandron wants to end his five-year reign and have him dethroned. Tyler won the six-week-long “Dig into Reading” event by completing 63 books from June 24 to Aug. 3, averaging more than 10 a week.

He has consistently been the top reader since kindergarten, devouring a total of 373 books over the five contests, according to his mother, Katie.

“It feels great,” said Tyler, an intermediate scholar student at Hudson Falls School. “I think that was actually a record-breaking streak.”

Everyone is so proud of him. Everybody, it seems, but Gandron, who was surprised to learn Katie (his mom) notified a Post-Star reporter about her son being a longtime winner. During a phone call Tuesday to Gandron, the library director said Tyler “hogs” the contest every year and he should “step aside.” “Other kids quit because they can’t keep up,” Gandron said.

Gandron further told the reporter she planned to change the rules of the contest so that instead of giving prizes to the children who read the most books, she would draw names out of a hat and declare winners that way. She said she can’t now because Katie has come forward to the newspaper.

Gandron said she has an “attitude” about the contest because several years ago a little girl came in claiming she had read more than 200 books. Her mother backed her up, but it was discovered the girl was lying.

From the New York Public Library Tumblr.

What’s the point of a library in the digital age? It’s a question that makes librarians bristle. They are quick to remind you that they are not just repositories for printed books and DVDs. Regular patrons know this, but public libraries want to reach beyond the faithful. To that end, many librarians are finding creative ways to get people through the doors despite their limited resources.

Full piece on NPR

PACER has seen a sharp rise in overall user satisfaction since a comparable survey was conducted in 2009, with 90 percent of users saying they are satisfied or highly satisfied with the internet-based public case information system. That compares with 75 percent satisfaction with the overall user experience in the previous survey.

Full story: http://news.uscourts.gov/pacer-survey-shows-rise-user-satisfaction

Not familiar with PACER? Read about PACER here.

Which novel published after the year 2000, you think will be considered as a classic?

This article made me think. What can we learn from Netflix about the changes in their business from physical DVD distribution to streaming media distribution? This is a pretty good metaphor for the transition libraries are facing.
So this article made me think about the following questions…

Waterstones may have avoided a digital commitment, or as some would suggested merely handed over their customers naively to Amazon. Barnes and Noble may have bitten more digital technology that they could deliver and taken too long to realise that the Nook market didn’t stop at the Eastern seaboard. But in both cases it isn’t too late to harness the goodwill and brands that remain, but it will take hard decisions such as experienced in the oil industry in the 80s and not just tinkering at the edges. It truly is a daunting task and not one for the old guard or inexperienced.

On the Return of a Long-Lost Library Book, the World Rejoices
“What’s really curious, however, is the staying power of this rather quotidian story, our seemingly endless fascination with an old book returning to the place where it belongs.”

Never gets old for me!
[Thanks Bob!]

Two New Services Offer Ready-to-Launch Websites for Libraries

Library web hosting provider LISHost this month launched Library CMS, a modular, Drupal-based content management system template tailored to the needs of library websites. The move follows the March debut of Prefab, a WordPress-based CMS template designed for libraries by user experience (UX) consultancy Influx. Both are offered in conjunction with web hosting and are positioned as affordable, comprehensive website redesign services for individual libraries and small systems.