The libraries and the content of the libraries of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency!) are in serious danger. The administration is attempting to weed out any questionable material that might put the corporate and fossil fuel gods at risk of losing their thrones. What began as a $2 million budget cut (out of a total library services budget of $2.5 million) in the President's 2007 budget for the EPA's library services is now an all out assault on the precious information housed in the EPA libraries. Here is just a snippet from the in-depth coverage this travesty is getting by...
The O. J. Book Toss
So let's follow the bouncing OJ book: New Book-Recalled Book-Scarce Book 1. Tremendous hype precedes the scheduled Nov. 30th release of "If I Did It" being published by Judith Regan's ReganBooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers both owned by head Fox Robert Murdoch. 2. Tremendous public outcry forces the publisher to cancel publication. 3. The books that did make it to market begin making their way to the used book, auction world (or the resale market as the USA today article calls it) with lucrative results. USA Today story on this here. Where will the book bounce next? Back in...
New York Times Does Letterpress
Nice article in the NYT Sunday Arts & Lesuire section entitled "Retro Printer, Grounding the LaserJet"Of course there is the customary "In the compter age, the old-fashioned letterpress is enjoying a resurgence" line that we have been hearing pretty much yearly for the last 20 years but hey at least they keep writing about it.My favorite line comes from Kitty Maryatt, director of Scripps College Press, who says "It is the romance of the impression of letter pressed into paper" Wow! Love thy printer now!To keep the momentum going here are some letterpress related links:First this great video "Leader's in...
The College Library of the Future
The Boston Globe has an interesting read on some of the changes made at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts.Changes that have had some amazing results:Library use up 27%Library Circulation up 84%!What in the world could have happened?Well for starters they moved 500,00 under used books from the basement and moved them "into an old mountainside military bunker"Then they turned the place where "You could shoot off a cannon and not worry about hitting anyone" into a bustling hang out by adding a coffee bar, computers, "Vending machines [that] dispense everything from spare computer parts to...
Circulation: A Healthy Book Flow
Long Overdue: A collaboration between Maine College of Art and the Portland Public Library. This is how it worked: The Portland Public Library took 200 books that were on their discard pile and gave them to 200 artists to do as they wish. Now the brilliant part- Once the artists were finished with their piece it went back to the library where it was re-entered into the library system and became available for check out. Inter-Library loan no less so it is feasible that if you see something you like you can check it out here in Seattle! The New...