From the Beeb:
“The My Book Your Book website does not go live until Monday evening, but has already received 750 applications. All of its “founder members” will be able to access thousands of paperback novels – provided they donate 10 books each to the co-operative scheme. “I always thought it would work, but I’m surprised how quickly it’s taken off,” Peter Baillie told BBC News. The website asks its members to add a list of 10 books they own to its online catalogue.”
An article from the Denver Post discusses a one organization crusade to change library open meeting rooms to allow for religious “expression”. According to the article:
“The Liberty Counsel has filed or participated in six similar legal actions against libraries across the country, part of a broader movement to integrate religious expression in what have been secular venues, according to scholars and lawyers who have studied the topic. Liberty has prevailed in every case, getting libraries to change their policies or outright winning in court.”
The growing number of book challenges could be due to the changing politcal landscape, according to this article from the Columbia Missourian.
Is it a good idea to sell ads on magazine covers in libraries? What if the advertiser pays for a two-year subscription for the mags that they want to advertise on? The News Observer has the story.
Here’s an odd one. According to USA Today, a library in Sweden is loaning people. That’s right! Not materials to people, but people to people. From the article:
“This weekend, nine people, including a homosexual, an imam, a journalist, a Muslim woman and a gypsy, will be available at the Malmoe Library for members of the public to “borrow” for a 45 minute conversation in the library’s outdoor cafe.”
It seems that some are so indignant about getting the George W. Bush Library to their part of Texas, an online petition was started. More at KCDB.
“On this Labor Day, we pay tribute to the librarian. Librarians feed our hunger for knowledge, they steer us down the proper research path, they find us sources and citations, and dig out obscure facts.”
“And though their efforts often go unheralded, now librarians are represented by an action figure. From the company Archie McPhee — offbeat outfitters of popular culture — the librarian action figure joins the ranks of the Albino Bowler action figure, the Sigmund Freud action figure, the coffee shop Barista action figure, and the Jesus action figure.” (from NPR)
“A US-based website that encourages the lending of books by leaving them in public places has come under fire from UK authors for denting new book sales and royalty payments.”
“Jessica Adams, Transworld author and editor of the War Child anthologies, claimed that the website, bookcrossing.com, devalued books by co-ordinating lending for which no royalty was payable. “The site’s growth should be a worry for authors and for charity bookshops who rely on secondhand books for their income.” (from The Bookseller)
“Greg Dyke, director general of the BBC, has announced plans to give the public full access to all the corporation’s programme archives.”
Mr Dyke said on Sunday that everyone would in future be able to download BBC radio and TV programmes from the internet.”
“The service, the BBC Creative Archive, would be free and available to everyone, as long as they were not intending to use the material for commercial purposes, Mr Dyke added.” (from
“For parents shrinking under a barrage of terrifying labels about their substandard offspring — attention deficit disorder, learning-disabled, hyperactive — one name should leap into their brains: Dav Pilkey, the writer/artist who masterminded the Captain Underpants series published by Scholastic Books.”(from USA Today)
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