Library Stuff

Guardian – “Discontent over digital royalties prompts Roth, Amis and other leading names to enter into exclusive deal with Odyssey Editions”

WCF Courier – “Sporting a pink skirt and pink flip-flops, Zoe Malin Campbell tilts her head toward a large, silver microphone and begins to read from one of her favorite books, “Amazing Grace” by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch. Not once does the 5-year-old stop to ask an adult how to pronounce a word. Not once does she look confused or nervous. Campbell, who has been learning to read since age 3, has her own radio show on KBBG radio. “Zoe’s Book Club with a lot of Books” airs at 11 a.m. every Saturday.”

Los Angeles Times – “The Getty Research Institute is receiving grant money from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a joint project that involves the digital archiving of German auction catalogs from 1930 to 1945. The archives are intended to help establish the origins of artistic and cultural assets that were taken from their legal owners during the Nazi regime.”

PC Worlds – “Are you still holding out to see what happens with this whole ebooks “fad” before deciding whether to embrace it for your business? Well, the times they are a changin’ and there are a variety of reasons that ebooks are outpacing printed books. Amazon reports that ebook sales are three times higher than last year, and that Kindle versions of books have outsold their hardcover equivalents by 43 percent over the last quarter. The traditional written word printed on paper will not be fading to oblivion any time soon, but here are five factors contributing to the success of the ebook”

SF Chron – “‘Book art’ is a synthesis of form and content and provides us a bridge between the traditional book and contemporary art,” Lederer says. “Artists’ books engage us in their meaning through a myriad of elements (versus just text), including words, image, materials, shape, form and color. The creative opportunity for structuring and packaging book art is endless – from pop-ups to sculptural housing.”

LA times – “Those who’ve been to William Andrews Clark Memorial Library love its intimate, elegant grounds and trove of historical writings. Run by UCLA but tucked away in Jefferson Park, it gets few visitors.”

Associated Press – “The European Commission said Thursday it does not object to Google digitizing 160,000 books in the archives of the National Library of the Netherlands if they will be made publicly available. EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said the EU executive welcomed the digitization of materials from public libraries provided “they are made available to European citizens” and meet EU copyright and competition laws.”

 Los Angeles Times – “Budget contractions are squeezing the Los Angeles Public Library, which begins a new schedule of reduced hours this Sunday, July 18. Going forward, the Central Library and all 72 LA Public Library branches will be open just five days, Tuesday through Saturday.  This means that students who need the computers or Internet access will have to queue up for places on Saturday. People who work regular hours and want to stop at libraries on the weekend will now have to remember Saturday is their only chance. And for many — students, people with daytime jobs — getting to the library at all will be a challenge. While the new hours seem paltry, the budget crisis might force even more drastic cuts in service in the future.”

Retuers – “Rare cartographic gems mapping the world from 200 B.C. to the present go on display at the British Library in London. “Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art,” showcases some of the finest wall-maps in the British Library’s 4.5 million-strong collection, in an exhibition which encourages visitors to question the nature and purpose of maps.”

SF Chron – “Several dozen workers at a book-scanning factory in San Francisco are among 3,500 city residents who are earning paychecks today thanks to a federal wage subsidy that will expire Sept. 30 unless Congress puts an additional $2.5 billion into the program.”