Today's Washington Post has a very interesting article  'As demand for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves.'

"Kindles, Nooks and iPads can do many amazing things, but they can’t bump you ahead in line at the Reston Regional Library. In fact, if you want to borrow a book, it may be quicker to put down your sleek new device and head into the stacks."

Taylor Swift Donation

Taylor Swift donated 6,000 books to her hometown library.    "Taylor Swift may not be in her Wyomissing, Pa., hometown this week, but that didn’t stop her from giving back to the residents there. Swift partnered with Scholastic Inc. to donate 6,000 librarian-chosen books to the public library of Reading, Pa., a city close to her hometown that has been hard hit by the economy."

Two things I love about this donation:  the first is the books were 'librarian-chosen'  -- donations are great, but the best donations are those which the libraries/librarians have the opportunity to chose what is needed and best for their community.   And secondly, according to School Library Journal, the average cost of a children's book in 2011 is $21.55 (hardback) and $11.25 (paperback).  Donating 6,000 books  even at wholesale prices is quite a contribution.  Thank you Taylor Swift for thinking of your hometown and libraries.

Curating

Curating seems to be the latest trend for digital readers.  This is new to me, but Scoop it has the scoop on curating.

You can be the 'curator of your favorite topic. 
Create your topic-centric media by collecting gems among relevant
streams Publish it to your favorite social media or to your blog.'

Celebrities and their Libraries

Some of the celebrity home libraries pictured here are absolutely beautiful and full of books (one with music).  But I will say that my favorites are the less formal and less neat libraries -- they are just much more inviting to me.  I love the libraries of Nigella Lawson and Jimmy Stewart.  And what librarian would not love Keith Richards' place especially after learning he studied the Dewey Decimal system in an effort to organize his book collection!



"We might not always think of rock stars at the bookish sort, but Keith Richards does enjoy a good read when he’s at home in this cozy, octagonal space. He even confessed in his recent autobiography that he’s always had a secret longing to be a librarian, getting some practical training managing the thousands of books in his home collection — even going so far as to learn the Dewey Decimal System!"
(from Accredited Online Colleges.com)

Library quote

A man's library is a sort of harem. 
( Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Conduct of Life, 1860 )

Woman steals public library books

A woman in Southland stole over 2,000 books from the Carlsbad and San Diego public libraries and evidently had plans to sell them at a yard sale.  Oh my, what planning!

Library Quote

Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.
( Lady Bird Johnson )

SLIS students at The University of Iowa chose their favorite blogs.  Here are the many areas they considered for the final lists:


Blogs by librarians
Blogs by LIS students
Blogs relating to information science
Blogs relating to archives and special collections
"Other" blogs that may be of interest

Reading Lists

A few weeks ago I mentioned I was gathering books for my summer reading list.  Besides my shelves (note the plural use of shelf) and printed lists of titles (another use of the plural form), I used suggestions in this article, How to Create an Awesome Summer Reading List.


Actually the ideas presented in this article are good for creating any reading list or getting recommendations for reading.  Though I have plenty of books on my 'to read' shelves and downloaded on my Kindle, sometimes I just do not feel like reading a few.  Then I find other titles I am more interested in reading.  You know, some times you feel like a book.  Sometimes, you don't!
.

British Library 19th Century Collection

I don't have an ipad, but this sounds really great, especially if you are interested in the 19th century.  The British Library has released 1000 items from its collection into an ipad app.  

"This application provides access to titles from the British Library’s 19th century book collection. It includes classic novels, works of philosophy, history and science. Browse, search and read these historic books on a platform that enhances the reading experience. These digital book images have been captured in color to preserve the look of the original book.  Marbled papers, embossed covers, engraved illustrations maps, and beautifully colored plates are intact and help create a unique reading environment.

Features:

• Search the collection
• Browse titles by subject
• Read commentary on selected titles
• View images of original maps
• See author inscriptions and margin notes
• Create favorite title lists
• Download books for offline reading

Visit: http://britishlibrary19c.tumblr.com to see sample curated content."

Dewey Digger

Really interesting attempt to catalog the web  --   Dewey Digger .  
           "Welcome, wonderful web wanderer. Explore knowledge via the 
            Dewey Decimal  Classification; just clickety-click."
I clicked on the 900 History & Geography tab in the top menu and a listing of all Dewey numbers appeared.  After clicking on 929, a page of topics appeared (looks like a word cloud), and I chose 'ancestors.'  Twenty-seven (27) sources appeared (Amazon, Bing, Google, JSTOR, Internet Archive, Project Muse to name a few).  

My Morning Jacket - Librarian lyrics

aaahhhh --  lyrics to 'Librarian' 


Walk across the courtyard, towards the library.
I can hear the insects buzz and the leaves 'neath my feet...

Ramble up the stairwell, into the hall of books...
Since we got the interweb these hardly get used.

Duck into the men's room... combing thru my hair...
When god gave us mirrors he had no idea...

Looking for a lesson in the periodicals...
There I spy you listening to the AM radio...

Karen of the carpenters- singing in the rain...
Another lovely victim of the mirror's evil way.

It's not like you're not trying, with a pencil in your har
To defy the beauty the good lord put in there...

Simple little bookworm- buried underneath...
Is the sexiest librarian... take off those glasses and let down your hair for me.

So I watch you thru the bookcase- imaging a scene:
You and I at dinner, spending time, then to sleep.

And what then would I say to you- lying there in bed?
These words, with a kiss, I would plant in your head:

"what is it inside our heads that makes us do the opposite?
Makes us do the opposite of what's right for us?
Cause everything'd be grrreat... and everything'd be good...
If everybody gave... like everybody could."

Sweetest little bookworm. hidden underneath...
Is the sexiest librarian...
Take off those glasses and let your hair down for me.
Take off those glasses and let your hair down for me.

Simple little beauty- heaven in your breath.
The simplest of pleasures- the world at it's best.



View My Morning Jacket  on YouTube and you can get the ringtone sent to your cell! 

Robyn Jackson gave the following statistics (on Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshops website):

1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

57 percent of new books are not read to completion.

(Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)

53 percent read fiction, 43 percent read nonfiction. The favorite fiction category is mystery and suspense.

(Source: Publishers Weekly)

About 120,000 books are published each year in the U.S.

(Source: www.bookwire.com)

The blog has a 2003 copyright and 2010 conference information so I don’t know how current these statistics are, but even so I found the stats rather interesting.  I’m startled by the ’80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.’

Recently I read someplace that people who do not usually buy print books are purchasing ebooks for ereaders.  Hopefully, that 80% will be a lower number in future years and the U.S. will become a nation of readers (wasn’t that a slogan for a library promotion at one time?).

Rearranging your bookshelf video

Organizing the Bookcase is a great video.  As the creator said, "Over the weekend my wife and I decided to organize the bookcase. It got a little out of hand...."


Each time I have watched the video, I've noticed something new.  I enjoyed the comments as well.  "Try that with a Kindle!"  "Am i the only one that was watching the clock the whole time..?"


Enjoy!

Anatomy of a Librarian

Anatomy of a Librarian

Shelf reading made easy

Augumented Reality App for Shelf Reading

Another bit of technology for libraryland?  The AR shelf reading app can scan an entire shelf of books at one time and alert workers which ones are out of place.
This reminds of the days when we had to attach barcode labels to each book in the library collection when we became "automated."  With the Shelvar system, one would need to add a special tag (sort of like a QR code) to the spine of each book.  The QR-type tag represents the call number of the book.
This is a great way to check shelves and do inventory, but what happens with thin books?  Where do you put the tag?  Will the reader read around the spine edges?
I've never used RFID, but isn't this similar?

Perceptions of Libraries, 2010

The recent Perceptions of Libraries, 2010 study found really interesting results:

"College students use and value libraries.  Nearly three-fourths of college students have a library card.  College students who have been assisted by a librarian are overwhelmingly (90%) satisfied with their experiences with librarians, and eight out of ten agree that librarians add value to their search process."
Teens are using "Social networking, mobile technologies, Wikipedia and ask-an-expert services. Teens lead all age groups in the use of ask-an-expert sites (62%) and Wikipedia (88%). They are the heaviest texters of any age group, a substitute for IM, which declined significantly from 2005."
"Young Americans hold library cards: 75% of teens and 68% of young adults. Two-thirds of young Americans consider themselves readers. Their top piece of advice for libraries: add or update the content."


The above is just a smattering of findings of this report.  Various ages are covered:  college students, teens and young adults, Generation X, boomers and seniors.
Fascinating reading for all concerned and connected to libraries.

Word Clouds

Do you use word clouds?  Here is a recent blog entry with Five Ways To Make Word Clouds From Text .

I've used Tagexdo and Wordle, but not the other three.  Word clouds have definitely added a little something extra to my newsletters and displays.  

Kindle books at your local library

Amazon will make Kindle books available at public libraries.  According to a recent Amazon press release  'Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. Kindle Library Lending will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps....


"We're doing a little something extra here," Marine continued. "Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we're extending our Whispersync technology so that you can highlight and add margin notes to Kindle books you check out from your local library. Your notes will not show up when the next patron checks out the book. But if you check out the book again, or subsequently buy it, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced....

Amazon is working with OverDrive, the leading provider of digital content solutions for over 11,000 public and educational libraries in the United States, to bring a seamless library borrowing experience to Kindle customers. "We are excited to be working with Amazon to offer Kindle Library Lending to the millions of customers who read on Kindle and Kindle apps," said Steve Potash, CEO, OverDrive. "We hear librarians and patrons rave about Kindle, so we are thrilled that we can be part of bringing library books to the unparalleled experience of reading on Kindle." '

Maybe all the negative comments about Amazon/Kindle not liking libraries made an impact.  A win-win for all.

Book Dominoes

     Great entertainment:         

        Bookmans does book dominoes
        Book dominoes
    Library dominoes
        Library Ireland Week 2011



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