The first shower of news from the ALA Mid-winter Meetings here is in Seattle was the Gates Foundation pledging another 5 years of support so "public libraries serving low-income communities continue to provide free, high-quality computer and Internet services and training to their communities".Some interesting numbers from the release:-14 million people rely on library computers to further their education, look for work and to get health and government information.-almost 40 percent of Americans are still lacking Internet access at home.-the Gates Foundations has contributed over $325 million to date to library technology initiatives to overcome the "digital divide"Our hats go...
The Model Librarian
Talk about special collections.I am not sure if they have any fashion shows scheduled for the American Library Association mid-winter meetings which kick off here in Seattle today.But here is one we came across featuring the Librarians from Sweden.What a cool looking library.Thanks to blog of the Kenyon Review lead
Don’t Believe the Hype: The Book Shop Remains Endangered
You would think the world of independent bookshops was flourishing.The New York Sun recently ran a piece titled ""Booksellers Fight Back As 5 New Stores Open" and the American Booksellers Association (ABA) started the year off with this headline "A Plethora of New Indies Open in 2006" touting the arrival of 97 new bookshops that opened for business in 2006 (and were members of the ABA).Unfortunately, if you look a little closer you can still see some trouble spots.2 of the 5 bookstores that have opened in New York were opened by publishers not booksellers. I am a big fan...
Here Come the Librarians!
If you don't see your favorite librarian in the next couple of days there is a good chance he or she is here with us in Seattle.Thousands of librarians from all over the country are ascending to the Emerald City for the American Library Association (ALA) mid-winter meeting.The most literate city in America welcomes you to library heaven and we can't wait until you see our new downtown library!There are over 2000 meetings and events and over 100 different discussion groups, covering all the major topics affecting the trade today.There will be book parties and book related events all over...
Forbes & Book Collecting
There was plenty of buzz in the book blogosphere back at the beginning of December when Forbes released their special report on BooksIn reading the special report and spending some time on Forbes.com I was struck by the absence of anything to do with the non-new book market. The articles in the report dealt with the many different aspects of book culture but none ventured into role of the secondary market in book culture.When I checked the Forbes.com website I noticed that the collecting segment of the ForbesLife contained very little if anything on book collecting.Finding this omission a little...