From Pew Internet:

Americans strongly value the role of public libraries in their communities, both for providing access to materials and resources and for promoting literacy and improving the overall quality of life. Most Americans say they have only had positive experiences at public libraries, and value a range of library resources and services.

. . . .

Some 90% of Americans ages 16 and older said that the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their community, with 63% saying it would have a “major” impact. Asked about the personal impact of a public library closing, two-thirds (67%) of Americans said it would affect them and their families, including 29% who said it would have a major impact.

Moreover, the vast majority of Americans ages 16 and older say that public libraries play an important role in their communities:

• 95% of Americans ages 16 and older agree that the materials and resources available at public libraries play an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed;
• 95% say that public libraries are important because they promote literacy and a love of reading;
• 94% say that having a public library improves the quality of life in a community;
• 81% say that public libraries provide many services people would have a hard time finding elsewhere.

Link to the rest at Pew Internet

From School Library Journal:

This is a straightforward, how-to set of instructions for squelching all remnants of library service in a school community. It’s been a painful set of rants and raves to record, and I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it. However, what I see worries me so much that I just can’t keep my mouth shut.

1. Fire your librarians. If you really want to get rid of library programs and services, start at the top. Ship them off to traditional classrooms or Timbuktu—just get rid of them. Some are rabble-rousers and troublemakers, and others just won’t get off their soapbox about all the great things libraries can do for kids. Once they’re out of the picture, it’ll be easier to do what you want with the library.

. . . .

4. Keep kids confused about how a library works. If they’ve never heard of a library catalog, they won’t ask how to use one. If kids don’t come in to the library to do research, you can use the space for baby showers and book fairs. Do they really need library books? Get the library assistant to pull a bunch from the stacks. If she’s not in the library, check the cafeteria or study hall. Be sure she includes a variety of titles, because who knows what kids really want to read.

5. Rush kids in and out of the library. You don’t want them in there too long. They’ll get curious about those banned books and genre displays, and we know what will happen next. We’re familiar with what follows when you give a mouse a cookie.

. . . .

8. Tell authors who want to visit your school that you don’t have time for them. You’re too busy working on the Common Core State Standards to devote time to frivolous pursuits, and they can be damn sure no child is going to get left behind at your school!

Link to the rest at School Library Journal

From TeleRead:

People in Queens, N.Y. will be able to use tablets for free starting next week.

Google donated 17,000 Nexus 7 tablets to the New York State Community Action Association, and Queens Library received 5,000 of those units. The library is going to lend the tablets to library card- customers starting Nov. 20. The tablets will be at seven Queens locations, and customers can borrow them for a month with the option of three renewals.

. . . .

The tablets will come with pre-loaded content with educational information, resources for job searching, computer skills training, immigration and citizenship information and more. The tablets will have full Internet within Wi-Fi range.

This is one of the first programs like this in the country – especially in such a large population. Queens is home to 2.3 million people.

Link to the rest at TeleRead

From The Illinois Author project

Illinois libraries hope to discover an unknown, self-published author whose work will jump off the page for readers. The Soon to be Famous Illinois Author project will be accepting self-published adult fiction submissions from Illinois residents via their local libraries. Visit us at booth 131 at ILA during the exhibits.

Click here to read the press release.

Evidently some libraries do like self-published books.

From Guest Bloggers Randall and Bridget

From Annoyed Librarian at Library Journal: a follow-up to Self-Publishing and Libraries, excerpted here on 21 October 2013

In my last post, I specifically wanted to find out why people would self-publish novels when the vast majority of self-published works are likely buried in the avalanche of self-published books. Fortunately, a lot of authors did comment, and I learned a lot. So, I’d like to thank the authors for that.

…

This has nothing to do with quality, and in the last post I specifically said I thought plenty of great work was being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of publication. Thus, I wasn’t “bashing” such books, as some claimed.

Some authors don’t care if libraries buy their books. They’ve avoided traditional models for a reason. If it works for you, that’s great.

But for those of you who might want to market to libraries, here’s a few points about how libraries work, because their traditional model is still going pretty strong.

Selection is always relatively small compared to availability.

…

Libraries are always going to buy a very small subset of the total published work, because there’s too much to choose from. They don’t have time to look for other books on the chance their patrons will like them.

This is important because:

Readers matter.

…

Libraries are lowest common denominator suppliers of books, and most people don’t want niche self-published books. They want John Grisham and company. That’s what sells the best, that’s what most people want and request, and that’s what libraries typically supply, for better or worse.

…

If libraries had unlimited budgets, unlimited time to explore less popular works, patrons who demanded those works, or if for some reason the Big 5 publishers all went out of business and self-published works were the only ones available, then the market for self-published works in libraries would increase.

…

There’s clearly an alternative publishing model that works well for lots of authors, but it’s not one that can work for public libraries. Maybe there will be a change, and maybe librarians and independent authors can work together to make that change, but librarians have no incentive to change a model that still works for them and their patrons.

Link to the rest at Library Journal

From guest blogger Bridget McKenna

From LitReactor

The country’s first 24-Hour automatic library will soon open in Norman, OK—home to the University of Oklahoma, among other things. According to Oklahoma City news channel KFOR, the small, canopy-like structure was installed at the Irving Recreational Center and will serve as an eastern arm for the Pioneer Library System.

***

Mike Monk, CEO of EnvisionWare (the company that manufactured the installation), was excited to see his project come to fruition:

Many of my employees said this was my birthday present because that was yesterday, and it was bringing this system to life yesterday for the first time in America after 2 and ½ years of research and development.

See the rest, including a picture, here.

From Guest Blogger Randall

From The Digital Reader

Scott Turow, author, litigator, and head of the Authors Guild, was interviewed on CBS This Morning earlier this week when promoting his new novel.

He had a few choice words for Amazon in this 4 minute interview, and then he goes on ramble about the current threats to American authors.

***

He even makes an off-hand swipe at librarians, which I think referenced the infringement lawsuit that several publishers lost against Georgia State University last year. That case was decided for GSU because one, the publishers flubbed it, and two, the judge found that almost all of the possible infringements were covered by existing fair use rules.

Yes, Scott Turow believes that the current fair use exceptions to copyright law are a serious threat to authors. But that’s not all. He thinks, I kid you not, that Amazon still dominates ebooks and that they’re killing bookstores.

See the rest here.

From Guest Blogger Randall

From BeerBrarian:

On Sunday, October 14th, yet another “End of Libraries” piece appeared. Per usual, it was written by a white male with no use for libraries, because every single time this trope appears, that’s part of the author’s demographic background. Beyond that, it’s a crucial part of the author’s background. It is overwhelmingly affluent white men* who argue that because they do not use something, it has no value for anyone.

. . . .

The people who write these posts will never stoop to doing actual research about library usage. Even when they work for Google, as the most recent author does, they’ll never use a search engine to make their argument. They’ll just talk and talk and talk. Libraries don’t factor into their lives, and since being a (straight) white male is the default setting for life, libraries don’t factor into anyone’s life. Privilege is nice, isn’t it?

. . . .

Andy Woodworth starts us off. You should follow him on twitter and read his blog.

First, the economics for public libraries works very well. For every $1 spent, it gives an average of $4 in services/materials@parislemon
— Andy Woodworth (@wawoodworth) October 14, 2013

. . . .

As for school libraries, there is a link btwn a school librarian and reading/learning scores: http://t.co/tjSVQ5OrHl @parislemon
— Andy Woodworth (@wawoodworth) October 14, 2013

. . . .

The notion that libraries are in decline is a fundamental misunderstanding of what a library is. As physical institutions, libraries have been with us for over nine thousand years now, dating back to Ashurbanipal. When people write about the decline, end, or death of libraries, they are instead writing about a historic blip in the concept of libraries: the Carnegie-founded public library, which is less than one hundred and fifty years old. And as one can see from the links above, they aren’t dying, either, though it would be nice if we voted for people to fund them.

Link to the rest at BeerBrarian and thanks to Margaret for the tip.

The Filipino American International Book Festival.

“Filipino American authors and artists have come together to share their stories at the second Filipino American International Book Festival.  Hosted by PAWA, a Northern CA based 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization and independent publisher of Filipino American lit.  PAWA’s main goal is to create and encourage literature and arts for the preservation and enrichment of Filipino and Filipino American historical, cultural and spiritual values.”

At the San Francisco Public Library, October 19-20.  Read more here:                  Leslie V. Ryan- Author

Julia Barrett

From the Morning Sentinel:

If you don’t see anyone inside the Wilton Free Public Library, it doesn’t mean no one is checking out a book.

The library had a dramatic rise over the past two years in electronic books borrowed on e-readers, such as Kindle and Nook. The growth of digital book circulation in Wilton matches similar growth at libraries across the state, though it is uncertain how the use might change the state’s libraries long-term.

. . . .

In 2011, the first year e-books and online audiobooks were available to patrons of the Wilton library, residents borrowed 83 titles. In 2012, 387 titles were borrowed, according to David Olsen, the Wilton library’s director. He said 418 digital books have been borrowed so far this year.

“We’re still in the early stages of this, and it’s impossible to predict how this will change libraries,” he said.

. . . .

Three years ago, the state created the Maine InfoNet Download Library, an online book collection that can be accessed through local and university libraries across the state that chose to participate in the program.

As of September, there were 4,286 audiobooks and 7,083 e-books available for borrowing in the state book exchange.

Olsen, who prefers e-books for his personal reading, pointed out that paper books were once a new technology and said people should not be concerned that going paperless will hurt reading or libraries.

“We’re about connecting people with literature, not specifically paper books. Libraries are about literature and learning,” he said.

. . . .

In August 2010, 4,301 titles were borrowed online in the state. By August the next year, that number more than doubled to 11,729 checkouts, and there were 20,739 books downloaded in August 2012. The number leveled off slightly this August, with 27,742 titles borrowed and 7,444 new users.

Link to the rest at the Morning Sentinel