“Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has asked publisher William Sieghart to lead a review of e-lending with a panel of experts. While some libraries in the UK already lend books electronically, many do not. There is little agreement about the best way to make ebooks available and also how to remunerate authors and publishers.”
via BBC News
“One of India’s oldest libraries – established by 19th Century colonial officers who donated British and Indian first editions – is facing closure after government funding was withdrawn. Writers and scholars, among others, have rallied together to save the library.”
via NY Daily News
“When employees at Davinci’s Café in downtown Davenport step out the back door for a break, they have a clear view of two garbage bins behind the Davenport Public Library. The alleyway vista is unremarkable unless you happen to notice the content of the bins: hundreds of library books. “They’ve been throwing books in the Dumpsters for at least the past two months,” says Davinci’s bartender Brittnee Kaecker, who recently salvaged two of the books for herself. Both bear multiple marks identifying them as property of the Davenport Public Library and are in such good condition one would assume they had just been checked out rather than pulled them from the trash.”
via KWQC
“The hulking husk of a vacant Walmart here in the Rio Grande Valley is enjoying an unlikely second act. When the big-box retailer moved to a larger location down the street, the building might have been destined to house yet another large chain or to fall into disrepair. But rather than let it become an eyesore, the city scooped it up and spent $24 million transforming the drab structure into a 123,000-square-foot public library that serves as a vibrant space for residents here.”
via NYTimes
In this webinar, OCLC Research Wikipedian in Residence Max Klein discussed what’s happened between Wikipedia and libraries in the past and what it means for the future. In addition, he explained the connection between Wikipedia and libraries, discussed the variety of Wikipedia in Residence positions and the opportunities for libraries working with Wikipedia, as well as described how OCLC Research is working to integrate Authority Control into Wikipedia. He also presented “Behind the Secret Door: Tips and Tricks for Librarians using Wikipedia.”
via OCLC
“Libraries, as we already know, have not been spared City Manager Mary Suhm’s budget cleaver in recent years. The library budget has been chopped and quartered like perhaps no other city department, having been sliced in half since peaking at $36 million peak in 2007. That’s decimated staffing levels, hours of operation, materials budget — just about everything.”
via Dallas Observer.
“Jacksonville’s library system got a tiny glimmer of hope Friday that Jacksonville’s City Council might prevent the worst of a series of proposed budget cuts. But the same day, council auditors warned the city’s finances looked tighter than Mayor Alvin Brown’s staff had described earlier and said some savings that were forecast this month seemed too optimistic. That could erase any hopes for shoring up library services, now slated to lose both hours open and money for materials when the 2013 budget year starts Oct. 1.”
via jacksonville.com
“The Gwinnett County Library Board has voted against an idea to raise money by placing advertising on bookmarks. The original proposal called for businesses to pay $300 to have their advertisement or coupon printed on about 5,000 bookmarks, which would then be distributed around the communities in the county just northeast of Atlanta. Board Member Dick Goodman said the plan has been a diversion from more important issues the board needs to address.”
via GPB
“The District’s public libraries would open on Sunday — and stay open for much longer on other days — under a $10 million plan that the D.C. Council is poised to take up this fall. Most library branches in the city are open for 48 hours each week, but legislation that Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans is pressing would move that figure to at least 69 hours a week, a 44 percent jump. “The libraries are very important,” Evans said. “We have one of the finest library systems in the country, and people at community meetings bring [operating hours] up to me all the time.”
“The state Senate quietly distributed about $15 million in aid to schools and libraries on the last day of the 2012 legislative session, boosting local technology programs and filling budget gaps in growing districts.
Individual school districts and educational programs across the state received grants ranging from a few thousand dollars to $500,000, according to a resolution passed by the Senate on June 21.”
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