Free Books! was how the snippet on Shelf Awareness began.The MailTribune of Southern Oregon ran a story on a new bookshop in Medford, Oregon "Ideals in Action. Book Exchange offers free books and runs on online sales."The shop is called the Rogue Book Exchange and their tagline is: Have a book, leave a book - want a book, take a book."It's a free, nonprofit bookstore and we pay the rent by online selling about one in 50 of the books that people give us." says Jenny Hamilton who owns the shop with here husband.An intriguing model to say the least...
The Demise of the Jackson County Library System
As of next week the libraries of Jackson County, Oregon will have been closed to the public for 6 months. No storytime for kids, no books, movies or cd's for the residents, no book clubs and no internet access for the people most in need and most importantly one less place for people to get information.In April, the libraries ran out of federal money and were left to their own devices to fill the gap.In May, for the second time, voters failed to approve a tax increase that would have reopened the 15 libraries.The interim library director, Tom Stark, left...
Who Needs a Bookmobile?
Here's the deal:The Seattle Public Library bought this roving library three years ago to serve the various populations that can't easily get to any of their 25 branches. Day care centers, assisted living facilities and underserved neighborhoods all benefit greatly from this book bus.But, lo and behold, the bookmobile is up for sale.How can that be?Because its too big. Our beloved city of Seattle is pretty near impossible for a car to drive in let alone a book RV, we have so many hills that there only a few places you can drive straight. Why this wasn't apparent 3 years...
The Waiting Game in Jackson County
The 15 libraries of Jackson County, Oregon have now been closed for over 2 months.No storytime for kids, no books, movies or cd's for the residents and no internet access for the people most in need.Where are we today?Still no help from Washington D.C. There was an emergency appropriation in the initial Iraq War bill that the President vetoed and I am not sure what incarnation survived the recent bill the President signed off on.Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is quoted as saying back in April: "The President may veto the bill more than once, but eventually the legislation must pass...
Voters Reject Levy to Fund Jackson County Libraries. The Dark Ages Remain
The voters of Jackson County have overwhelmingly defeated the levy that would have reopened their public libraries.By a large margin the citizens of Jackson county refused to raise their property taxes to ensure the functioning of a public library system.From the Save Our Libraries website: A Dark Day...Thank you to all who voted to support Jackson County Libraries. The failure of ballot measure 15-75 marks a dark day in the history of our county. Nevertheless, our citizens and library supporters can be proud of a campaign filled with honesty, passion, and courage; a campaign that told the truth on behalf...