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...
Book Revue by Daffy Duck
Our YouTube special this week. An excerpt from the 1946 cartoon Book Revue starring Daffy Duckfirst spotted at bradleyk9
To Catch a Book Thief
There is no question that technology has greatly impacting the bookselling world. The book world was on of the first industries turned upside down by the Internet and e-commerce. It is still an industry in transition but there is one aspect of these technologies that has had an immediate and positive impact. Catching Book Thieves!A post on Tech Ramblings from the Book Trade yesterday alerted the world to a suspected book thief who might of swiped a couple of books from the venerable London bookseller, Maggs earlier in the day. Mug shots and all. In Seattle we have the Stolen...
The Book Lives
There is alot of buzz in the blogosphere regarding Forbes magazine recent special report on Books. The first thing to note is that one of the worlds leading business magazines is devoting an entire special issue to books. This wouldn't happen unless there is still a large demand and a ton of money to be made. The report features numerous articles on the state of the book, including a Q & A with some literary heavyweights- The question: "To me, books are..." A couple of enticing and encouraging snippets: From Cory Doctorow's"Giving It Away". Doctorow is one of the blog...