"The future of the book" from IDEO on vimeo

I love this idea for myself, but I wouldn't know how to catalog it for the library!

San Diego City Council To Vote on New Library

San Diego City Council will make what could be an historic decision Monday -- they'll vote on whether to go ahead with a new downtown library. Civic leaders have been talking about replacing the city’s central library for 30 years.
The current building is more then 50 years old. Library director Deborah Barrow says it's too small and isn’t able to serve the needs of the diverse community that has grown around it in the past five decades.
Barrow says now more then ever, San Diego is relying on its libraries.
“In fiscal year 2009 San Diego public library reached its highest use ever in our 128 year history,” Barrows said.
The new library would cost $185 million and is a public-private venture. About $120 million would come from taxpayers, the other $60 million from private donations. So far, $30 million has been raised in the private sector.

New iPhone App Lets Kids Access School Library Databases

This article originally appeared in SLJ's Extra Helping. Sign up now!

-- School Library Journal, 5/19/2010 2:05:00 PM

Add this to the growing list of popular iPhone apps for kids—AccessMyLibrary School Edition, which makes remote searches of media center databases just a click away.

The latest app from Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, comes on the heels of last year’s launch of an iPhone application that helps users find their local libraries.

This latest K-12 version asks students to enter a password, then search for their local school library. Once in, they can pull up the vast array of Gale online resources within a 10-mile radius that were purchased by their media specialist.

Whether researching for homework or personal use, there’s a wealth of information on science, history, literature, the environment, and biographies right at kids’ fingertips—and it’s completely free. All kids need to do is select a topic, and credible information from current magazines, journals, encyclopedias, and more is available for unlimited use 24/7. A student’s one-time login provides access until the end of the current school year.

“With this new AccessMyLibrary iPhone application, the school library is available anytime remotely, helping to make library resources even more easily accessible,” says John Barnes, Gale’s executive vice president of strategic marketing and business development. “This application is making research accessible to students in the way they prefer to learn, taking advantage of the latest technology. Students are able to access their school’s Gale databases in order to finish homework, work on a project or do research.”

The AccessMyLibrary School Edition app is downloaded at the iTunes store

Cigarette Dispensers Refurbished as Book Vending Machines

Originally posted by Jason Boog on May 12, 2010 10:23 AM

Cigarettes and books have been linked together since the very first literary salon. In this healthful age, one publisher has changed cancer stick dispensers into book machines (pictured, via)--keeping the smoky charm without any of the side effects.
Here's more from Publishing Perspectives: The publisher has refurbished and repurposed old cigarette automats for the purpose of selling books, focusing on the neighborhood surrounding the University of Hamburg. The books--all original texts by Hamburg authors, ranging from graphic novels to poetry to a travel guide for professional women--will each cost four euros. As reported in the Boersenblatt, the titles will also be available for purchase online."
Earlier this year we reported how one company is wrapping print editions of classic stories in fake cigarette packs that fit easily inside your pocket or purse--the perfect books for the new machine. (Via Victoria Strauss)

This is how the New York Public Library sorts their books

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/04/24/this-is-how-the-new-york-public-library-sorts-books/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/books/22library.html

Three Libraries win awards for programs with cutting edge technology

Contra Costa's program is interesting? Like Redbox for libraries. Take the self-service machines popping up in libraries and putting them in other settings like grocery stores and big box stores, etc. It reaches people who don't usually come into the library.

I thought this article was a nice read and tied into what we are doing and learning in class.

http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2010/march2010/cuttingedge_wo.cfm


The Winners

Library-a-Go-Go, Contra Costa County Library, Pleasant Hill, Calif.

The Library-a-Go-Go service uses fully automated touchscreen materials-lending machines to provide stand-alone library services in non-library environments. For more information: http://ccclib.org/locations/libraryagogo.html

Course Views [Library Tools] Project, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, Raleigh, N.C.

The NCSU Libraries implemented a cutting-edge service in response to the difficulty of creating and maintaining enough “course pages” – recommended resources for specific courses and assignments – to meet students’ needs. The Course Views system provides pages for all 6,000 courses offered by over 150 departments at NCSU. For more information: www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/projects/courseviews.

Digital Amherst, a project of the Jones Library, Amherst, Mass.

Digital Amherst provides digital historical and cultural materials—photographs and other images, articles, lectures and multimedia presentations—to Amherst locals, scholars and tourists. For more information: www.digitalamherst.org/.

As a side note .. I found this interesting news article about an upset patron over library weeding. All the comments after the article from librarians are the best part

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/92/2010/april/26/library-books-end-up-in-trash.html

iPad or Kindle?

According to the Los Angeles Times, there actually is a difference between reading on the iPad or Kindle. Reading on an iPad before bed keeps you awake because it emits its own light. Light-emitting devices help the brain to stay alert. Devices like Kindle, on the other hand, use a technology known as e-paper, which does not emit its own light and simulates the look of a printed page. This means that you can read on Kindle in the sunlight, and it doesn't put you to sleep. 

So whether you read to fall asleep or stay awake, now you know which eReader to choose. However, the paperback still has its own advantages. In case you do fall asleep, you know that it will not break upon falling out of your hand.