Book Patrol

The Living Library is Coming to America

2008-07-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Living Library was born in Copenhagen in 2000. It was started by 5 kids who, after one of them was stabbed during a night out, decided to do something "to raise awareness and use peer group education to mobilise danish youngsters against violence".

There have been countless Living Library events in Europe since and in 2006 a permanent Living Library was established in Lismore, Australia, where on the first Friday of every month people can come and check out "living books".

The premise:

"Borrow a person you normally would think you would not like. We have a wide selection of unpopular stereotypes. Everything from gays to hip hoppers to immigrants. Take a walk, have a talk or dont. Just remember to give back the person within two hours".

Past Living Library events featured a "policeman sitting there speaking with the graffiti writer. The politician in discussions with the youth activist and the football fan in deep chat with the feminist".

The first Living Library events in America are coming this fall. God knows we could use it.

Nina Simon has a great piece at Museum 2.0 on the potential applications of this model for museums.

It's Hemingway For McCain

2008-07-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

John McCain was in the Hamptons last weekend attending a fund-raiser at the home of real estate developer Bill Mack. The $2,300 a plate cocktail party was organized by a committee that included New York Republican heavyweights Henry Kissinger, Georgette Mosbacher, publisher Steve Forbes and former Senator Alfonse D’Amato.

During the Q&A that followed his talk McCain was asked about his reading life.

“I am a voracious reader. I read all the time,” said McCain who carries three or four books with him all the time.

The three books currently on hand are:

“Smyrna,” by Marjorie Housepian Dobkin, about the conflict between Greeks and Turks in 1922.
David Halberstam's “The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War.”
and Robert Kagan’s “The Return of History and the End of Dreams.”

and finally McCain said this: “I read anything by Hemingway all the time. He’s my favorite author.”

Now if you were uncertain whether electing McCain means four more years of Bush look no further than his stunning pronouncement "I read anything by Hemingway all the time" - Now if that isn't a pure Bushism...

Story by Larry Rohter at the New York Times political blog, The Caucus.

The 25 Most Modern Libraries in the World

2008-07-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Library of Picture Books in Iwaki City. Designed by Tadao Ando

The folks at BestCollegesOnline.com have put together a list of the 25 most modern libraries in the world.

The list is divided into three sections; architecture, technology and innovation, and digitial collections. The libraries are listed in no particular order.

Here are their choices and comments:

Architecture

Library of Picture Books in Iwaki City of Fukushima Prefecture: This library challenges the old ideas of what a library space should be. Integrated into the landscape with beautiful views from almost everywhere, this library is bright, airy and free from the stodginess that infects many older institutions. Books are arranged in cubicles, with their colorful covers exposed encouraging children to pick them up and read them. Changing the face of educational institutions from quiet, controlled places to playful and free places help bring libraries into the modern era and instill a love of reading in children. (Note- if you click the link above you need to scroll down to April 06 for the story of the library)
Det Kongelige Bibliotek: The Danish Royal Library, or the Black Diamond as it’s often called due to the shape of the building, is a modern facility inside and out. Featuring cutting edge design by Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen, it employs marble and glass to create a distinctive form on the outside. The design continues to the inside, with open spaces and playful walkways. Of course, the collections are extensive as well, with loads of online resources, old manuscripts, a large number of photographs, and access to a number of IT resources.
Bibliotheque Nationale de France: Some have suggested that the French National Library is a bit too modern, creating a sterile space too cold for people and unfriendly to books. While not all would agree, the library does attempt to create a wholly modern approach to library space, focusing on computers more than books, including services from four super computers. Of course, it does have quite a few flaws as well, as the ultra modern building designed by Francois Mitterrand isn’t easy to navigate and none of the services offered by the library are available without a cost. If anything, this building is a lesson in creating modern spaces that aren’t just focused on design but on function as well.
Seattle Public Library: This award winning building designed by Rem Koolhaas is the central home of Seattle’s library system. Modern on both the inside and the out, the library creates an easy-to-navigate and unique space for readers, browsers and studiers alike. The library doesn’t just look modern, however; it’s filled with loads of technological features as well. The library employs an RFID system that allows patrons to check out their own materials and leaves library staff free to deal with other matters as well as working with online resources and creating their own podcast.
Malmo City Library: This bright, glass enclosed Swedish library was designed by Henning Larsen. It employs design that is both functional and attractive while embracing many modern features that help the library run more smoothly and efficiently as well. The new FKI Logistex self-service check-in kiosks allow books to be checked in without the assistance of library staff, visitors use internet and other computer services, and plans have been made to link library data nationwide to make finding and using materials easier and more efficient. Perhaps most notably, the library offers the ability to check out a person for a 45-minute chat in an attempt to promote understanding and break down stereotypes.
Geisel Library: This library isn’t particularly modern in function, but is notable for its design which resembles a large metal and glass treehouse. The library boasts several stories and is home to five of UCSD’s on campus libraries. It shows that libraries can be innovative and sometimes even notable parts of the architecture of cities, countries and universities.
Halmstad Library: For a library that blurs the line between the indoors and outdoors, check out this Swedish design. Built to extend over the nearby Nissan River, the building is bright and airy, allowing in plenty of light. An atrium at the center of the building surrounds an existing chestnut tree, bringing a bit of the outdoors into the library’s interior spaces and creating an innovative and soothing library experience.
National Library of the Czech Republic: While this library is still in the conceptual stages only, it represents one of the most distinctive and unique architectural plans for a library in the world. The current design for the library is an organic green form resembling a hill, a blob, or some say, an octopus. Created to blend in with the surrounding landscape while providing bright and thoroughly modern interior spaces, the library reflects an increasing attitude of playfulness and daring when it comes to design, hopefully reflecting the attitudes within the library as well.

Technology and Innovation

DOK (Delft Public Library): Billed as a "library concept center" rather than a traditional library, this Dutch library takes modern libraries to a new level. Filled with bright colors and sleek modern design, this library makes use of professionally designed graphics, comfy furniture and shelving made from recyclable materials. Patrons have access not only to traditional books but to video games, listening stations, toys for kids to play with, comic books, a piano and even an art collection. On the technology side, the library is wired to deliver a text message to your phone when you enter, welcoming you. Additionally, books and cards use RFID, LCD screens around the building filled with information, stations for podcasting and videocasting and what is planned to be a "genius bar" to give technology help to the public.
Turku City Library: This modern library building in Finland is full of all the normal resources found in libraries like books, DVDs, CDs, and magazines but with one big difference. While most libraries are organized by the type of material, putting books in one place and DVDs in another, the Turku library is arranged entirely by subject, putting all related materials together in one place. Staff placed in the sections are specialists in each subject, and patrons are able to check out their own books with automated machines.
Bow Idea Store: This library is yet another that is taking a different approach to what a library is, preferring to call itself an Idea Store rather than a library. The idea is to combine traditional service provided by libraries with access to technology and lifelong learning opportunities. The library wants to not only provide resources, but to educate and improve the lives of those in the community. Patrons are encouraged to hang out in the library, meet friends, have coffee at the cafe and pursue hobbies using the library’s resources.
Cerritos Library: Called the "Experience Library," Cerritos was designed to be an open and modern space that takes a different approach to library services. The library is home to more than books and also includes a saltwater aquarium, sculptures by Dale Chihuly and a replica of a T-Rex fossil encouraging exploration and the pursuit of knowledge. Rooms in the library are designed by themes ranging from Old World reading to World traditions. Info Stations are located around the library to help assist patrons in finding what they need, and the local intranet allows users to customize their viewing experience. Additional technology in the library is found in the huge multimedia lab, thousands of laptop stations, wireless headsets and computers for librarians and an RFID tracking system for books.
Cuyahoga County Public Library: Ranked as the top library by Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings in 2006, this Cleveland, Ohio, library works to keep up to date with the latest technologies. Their website was ranked as the best by Ektron in 2006 and gives patrons the ability to access their accounts, purchase tickets to library events and much more. The library also offers text message delivery of library notices, the first in the nation to offer this service. The library offers access to 85 colleges and universities through its online OhioLink program as well as a host of other Ohio libraries, greatly increasing the number of resources patrons can draw upon. If that weren’t enough, the library also participates in a podcasting program and places videos of speakers and visitors to the library online for all patrons to enjoy.
Pace University Library: This university library in New York has made it easier than ever to get access to library materials. The library was granted the Library of the Future award for an innovative media network it has implemented. An internal streaming system called MediaPatch allows the library to share various types of media across campuses quickly and easily, allowing patrons at one branch to access the resources from another at the touch of a button. This solves several copyright concerns as the information never leaves the school’s secure servers but still allows distance learners and those in the classroom to quickly and easily access information. The library also participates in a podcasting program designed to cover a variety of subjects.
Richmond Public Library: Billed as the "library of the future" when it was opened in 1998, the Richmond Public Library’s Ironwood Branch employs a modern design that attempts to bring together technological resources with a comfortable and warm environment. A large computer center, laptop stations and a digital resource center form a large part of the library. There are also numerous listening stations for music, a quiet study room, a large children’s section and a huge Chinese language collection to reflect the area’s large Asian population. The library also uses express check out stations so librarians are free to do other things, and the library boasts a huge online collection of resources.
Denver Public Library: The Denver Public Library, housed in a whimsical modern facility designed by Michael Graves, has worked to make the Internet a major part of its operations, even having its own MySpace site. The library also has an extensive webpage, a podcasting series, and a huge digital download site. Users of the digital downloads can get audio books, online movies and ebooks for use on their computer or MP3 player. Additional modern conveniences include Denver Library Firefox plug-ins, an iGoogle catalog gadget, and a toolbar for IE.
San Diego Public Library: This library was one of the first to embrace wireless technology, offering free wifi at all of its locations. The website for the library is extensive with services for live online homework help, a variety of ebooks and audio books, online assistance and more. Sleek modern design at its present location, plans to build an ultra modern facility and self checkout systems help make this a modern facility.
Cleveland Public Library: The Cleveland Public Library offers patrons a wide range of downloadable materials on its website including audio books, ebooks, music and video. The library is part of a network of libraries in Ohio and offers patrons access to materials not only at the main location but at other locations as well. The library works with a NetNotice plan sending information on the library or reserved materials directly to patrons’ inboxes. Additionally, the library has an iGoogle gadget for its catalog, a Twitter feed, and participates in the Library Elf notification program.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: This library is one that is making big strides to be different than the traditional library. With online services that provide patrons with online chat with librarians, an RSS feed, a blog, podcasts, online requests, downloadable media and more, the library is making the move into the next century. Of course, their services extend beyond the web with career classes, gaming competitions and self checkout kiosks on site to keep patrons engaged as well. The library has made an effort to reach out to teens with MySpace and Facebook pages, gaming nights, art and anime clubs and a variety of teen centered programs and organizations.
New York Public Library: The New York Public Library is one of the largest in the nation offering patrons access to millions of books, periodicals, CDs and more. It also offers a large number of digitized collections that include images, prints and photographs. The library worked with Google to create a selection of digital books and offers patrons a large number of online text collections. The library is also highly tech savvy with an active RSS feed as well as podcasts on iTunes U. Patrons can download ebooks, video and audio directly from the website or enjoy video storybooks, video on demand and webcasts as well.

Digital Collections

National Diet Library: Japan’s National Diet Library provides a huge online catalog system so that it’s easy to locate and request many of the library’s materials. Users of the catalog can search the library’s entire collection from anywhere in the world, with sites in both English and Japanese. This service allows anyone to request materials from the library. Perhaps more impressive, however, is the library’s digital collection of Meiji era books, numbering around 60,000. Users can search through these and see actual digital images of the materials. Additional online collections include almost 37,000 rare books from the pre-Edo periods of Japan, making researches of Japanese history easier for those who cannot physically travel to Japan.
Bavarian State Library: Located in Munich, this large library was named Germany’s library of the year last year. It’s part of a nationwide program called Libraries-Link which serves as an access portal to all of Germany’s libraries making it easy to find information on any library. Additionally, it has partnered with Google to scan and make public many works that are public domain. The library is home to many rare books, numerous online databases and journals and a fast and nationwide resource search program. The library is working to digitize much of the rarer elements of its huge collection so that those within Germany and around the world can enjoy them from anywhere.
Library of Congress: The Library of Congress has some of the most impressive online collections of material that you will find anywhere. With materials ranging from historical photographs to sheet music, the library offers high quality digital images of tens of thousands of items from its collection. The library’s American Memory site provides visitors with a visual, audio and historical account of some of the most important events in American history. Visitors to the site can also search through the library’s catalog, request materials, and get detailed information on the goings on of congressional matters. In 2005, the library announced plans to begin putting together a World Digital Library that will put together important text, photographs, rare books and recordings from cultures all over the world.
The British Library: As one of the largest and most prestigious libraries in the world, the British library has loads of resources to offer researchers and patrons from all over the world. The library has access to its complete catalog online so that anyone can see what materials the library holds. Of course, online resources are much more extensive than this. The sound archive has placed over 4,200 hours of archival sound recordings online for download. The main online collections are housed in the digital library which contains rare items like Leonardo Da Vinci’s notebooks. There are approximately one hundred million items available digitally, including journals, patents, dissertations, reports and more.
National Library of Australia: The National Library of Australia is Australia’s largest reference library, providing access to millions of items related to Australia and cultures abroad. This library is a world leader in digital preservation techniques and has so far digitized over 105,000 items from its collection including a range of photos, maps, manuscripts, books, sheet music and audio recordings. These materials are accessible to patrons both in Australia and around the world.

Print on Demand at Your Independent Bookstore

2008-07-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) has teamed up with Applewood Books to provide print on demand services for independent bookstores. The deal was brokered by Ingram's Lightning Source.

The new program will provide participating booksellers the ability to publish any title that is in the public domain or any book whose rights have reverted to the author. Though technically the program is open to all books in the public domain the focus seems to be on producing titles of local interest.

How it works:

Booksellers will sign a letter of agreement for each work and pay an advance fee of $250 for each title they choose to publish.
Applewood will digitize the work.
Create a cover design; booksellers can choose one of three templated designs at no extra charge or provide their own custom, production-ready art.
assign an ISBN.
provide bibliographic data and approve the title for manufacture.
They will also provide distribution if need be.

Highlights:

-The option to for the bookseller to create their own packaging and branding. I can see for instance The Elliott Bay Book Company, here in Seattle, publishing the Elliot Bay Edition of Pioneer Days on Puget Sound with the cover art and design created by a local artist.

-Potential to significantly increase the range of offerings.

-The ABA's willingness to incorporate new technologies.

Lowlights:

-The program seems more like publishing on demand than printing on demand. It doesn't provide the choice to the customer but to the bookseller. The goal needs to be to provide the customer with more choices and opportunities.

-The $250 per book fee will limit the program's effectiveness by forcing bookstores to print only titles that they believe they can sell in quantity. There are no returns.

-Is Applewood Books is the right partner for the program?

At best, this program will have minimal impact and does little to increase the competitiveness of independent bookstores.

The time will come when the independent bookstore can afford to install a pod machine on site allowing their customers to choose from a huge pod inventory and have the book ready for them by the time they are done browsing. Then we will have print on demand.

Story at Bookselling This Week, New ABA Partnership to Provide Booksellers Access to POD

A Payne in the Bush : Fundraising Scandal at the Bush Presidential Library

2008-07-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

With no more campaigns to raise money for it seems that the Bush machine has set its sites on the Bush Presidential Library.

In the spirit of Sacha Baron Cohen the Sunday Times of London arranged and recorded an interview between a leading GOP activist Stephen Payne and two men thought to be acting on behalf of the exiled former president of Kyrgyzstan.

Payne, who also sits on the Homeland Security advisory board, is heard offering meetings with high-level officials of the Bush Administration in return for a hefty donation to the Bush Presidential Library. For somewhere between $600,000 and $750,000, with about a third of it going directly to the Bush library, Payne promised face to face meetings with a variety of Bush's cronies.

“Cheney’s possible, definitely the national security adviser [Stephen Hadley], definitely either Dr Rice or . . . I think a meeting with Dr Rice or the deputy secretary [John Negroponte] is possible ...The main thing is that he [the Asian politician] comes, and he’s well received, that he meets with high-level people . . . and we send positive statements made back from the administration about ‘This guy wasn’t such a bad guy, many people have done worse’.” said Payne.

Keith Olbermann has coined this latest fiasco Library-Gate and the House Oversight and Government Relations Committee lead by Henry Waxman has begun to investigate. In the meantime, the White House is distancing itself, Payne was fired from the Homeland Security advisory board and a Bush spokesman for library foundation said that no additional monies will be accepted from foreign sources while Bush is still in office.

See the Sunday Times of London video here
The story here

Other coverage:
Houston Chronicle piece, "Houstonian denies he tried to sell access to Bush aides."
Dallas Morning News story, "Lobbyist promised White House access in return for Bush library"
Post at Majikthise, "Stephen Payne continues to make Jack Abramoff look like a piker"
Huffington Post story via Politico, "Henry Waxman Launches Probe Into Lobbyist Stephen Payne Who Allegedly Traded Access For Bush Library Donations."

Previously on Book Patrol:
The Dark Side of the Bush Presidential Library
And the Envelope Please: Designs for the George W. Bush Presidential Library

Bookmobile 2.0

2008-07-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the all new Digital Bookmobile, the world's first bookmobile without books. This 18 wheeler is 69 feet long and packed with the latest digital technologies. It was created by Over Drive to be used as an outreach tool for public libraries to promote their digital offerings.

How it works:

"The Digital Bookmobile, developed inside a high-tech tractor-trailer, will present programs that promote the host library’s download digital media catalog and ‘virtual branch’ website. The vehicle is customized for each library event and equipped with broadband Internet-connected PCs, high definition monitors, premium sound systems, and a variety of portable media players. Hands-on learning stations demonstrate how to search the digital media catalog, use supported mobile devices, and download and enjoy eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video from the library."

It kicks off it's national tour August 10th at the main branch of the New York Public Library. Current tour schedule here.

Thanks to LIS for the lead

Beatrix Potter Rarities at BibliOdyssey

2008-07-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Spectacled Mouse Reading Newspaper
Previously unknown drawing dating from the first year of Potter's association with Hildesheimer & Faulkner greeting card manufacturers (1892).

If your a Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit or Benjamin Bunny fan then peacay's recent post, Beatrix Potter Rarities, at BibliOdyssey is a must see. peacay features numerous rare Potter sketches, watercolors and drawings, many from her days as a greeting card illustrator before her huge success as a book illustrator.

What is of particular interest here is that all images were culled from the archives of Sotheby's and Christie's and not from the digital archive of various library special collections. It opens up a whole new world by offering us a glimpse of important material that usually ends up in private hands. The image archives of the leading auction houses are a goldmine and greatly enhance the understanding and study of our material culture.

Letterfingers

2008-07-15T09:03:00.000-07:00

Michell Romo decided to celebrate her 25th birthday by creating one art project a month for a year. Each month she features a different conceptual theme and each will be available in a limited edition of 25 copies. The end result will be 25 handmade books and an art show. One theme was Fonts and Typography

via Neatorama

The Museum of Notebooks

2008-07-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

"An ongoing project to collect the best and brightest notebooks in the world." So much more interesting than I was expecting. I especially liked the above "Cultural Revolution Notebook" from China.

Barnes & Noble Not Giving Up on Rare and Out-of- Print Books

2008-07-14T11:48:00.001-07:00

When Barnes & Noble decided to close their Chelsea store in New York City many thought that the small rare- and out-of-print-book department that was housed at that location for the last 8 years would disappear too.

Instead the company decided to not only relocate the department to a larger store on Broadway and 66th Street but is also "spending a significant sum on the department, installing custom display cases with locked glass doors" and moving it to a more prominent location on the second floor of the store.

Although they are claiming that there are no plans to "replicate the effort in other stores" and are calling it the pet project of Karen Catalanotti, who set up the department in the Chelsea store, there exists a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on this growing market.

One can imagine in the not to distant future a Barnes & Noble Rare Book command center which would house seasoned booksellers and an extensive reference library and uses the latest technology to communicate with their various stores and booksellers on the front lines.

Picture this: Someone walks into a Barnes & Noble in Des Moines, Iowa with a box of books for sale. The trained used bookseller on staff deals with the general out of print material using a comprehensive internal database and if there is an item that might warrant further work they simply image or video it and send it off to the command center. A short time later the command center responds with either further bibliographic questions or a fair offer price.

For one, the profit margins are significantly higher than new books but more importantly it bolsters the role of the bookstore in the community and brings the company closer to being the full service bookstore they aspire to.

The future is near!

Celia McGee's piece, Rare Indeed: A Chain Committed to Selling Out-of-Print Books, in the New York Times

Another online book...

2008-07-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

...I like a lot, this time a children's picture book. Christoph Niemann's The Boy's and the Subway is his charming account of his sons' love affair with NYC transit. Nicely captured.

Power Moby Dick

2008-07-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

I really like this elegantly annotated online version of Moby Dick. Simple and well-designed.

The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art

2008-07-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

The Getty Gallery at the Los Angeles Public Library is currently hosting, The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art, the first U.S. exhibit devoted exclusively to the image of the child in contemporary picture-book art.

“Today, more talented artists by far are involved in picture-book making than ever before, with art schools, museums, and galleries most recently becoming devoted to picture-book illustration as an art form,” said picture-book historian Leonard S. Marcus.

They exhibit focuses on illustrations of the last ten years and is divided into the following categories:
The New Child
The Child in the Family
The Child at School and Play
The Child in the Community
The Child in History
The Questioning Child and
The New Picture Book.

Featured illustrators include: Etienne Delessert, Marla Frazee, Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Maurice Sendak, William Steig and Chris Van Allsburg.

The show was organized by the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, NY, and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, and is co-curated by Marcus, art historian Jane Bayard Curley and librarian Caroline Ward and runs through September 14.

Speaking of picture-books. Don't miss Erica S. Pearl's piece at Salon.com, "I'm Talking to You, Corded! : The Mismatch of Technology and Picture Books." Pearl takes a look at the disconnect between the representation of technology in modern picture-books and the reality of the modern technologies that appear in many children's environments.

Pearl asks the question "Why do modern picture-book scenes often look so dated"

"The homes we see in children's picture books—even books published in the current decade and set in the present—often seem conspicuously dated. There are few computers. E-mail is hardly ever mentioned (much less checked). Phones usually have long, loopy cords tethering the receiver to the base."

She offers numerous visual examples included a few that incorporate the appropriate technology of the day.

Illustration © Sylvia van Ommen from Jellybeans.

The Where of Reading : Field-Tested Books

2008-07-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

Talk about books and technology. Is the book on life support? The reader? Is information going in? or coming out?

This fantastic screenprint was designed by John Solimine of Spike Press in an edition of 400 for the recent publication of Coudal Partners' Field-Tested Books. It also serves as the cover art.

For over six years now the folks at Coudal have been asking been asking people to send them 300-500 words about a book they read somewhere; a “certain book read in a certain place.”

The Field-Tested Books book contains three years of reviews featuring 143 entries from more than 90 contributors. It sells for $17 with a portion of the proceeds going to First Book, a charity that buys new books for underprivileged kids.

Book available here

The Power of Poetry : Boy Beaten to Death Over Love Poem

2008-07-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

16 year old Surjit Singh wrote a love poem in praise of an older girl. The problem was the girl was an "upper caste girl" and such cross-caste appreciation is taboo in India.

"When the teacher came to know about the Surjit's love poem, he caned him till he almost dropped dead." said one of Surjit's fellow students. If that wasn't enough the day after he was "thrashed in front of other students by an upper caste teacher" he was beaten to death by members of the girl's family.

The schools headmaster pleaded ignorance about the tragedy saying "he was out of school on the day of the incident". The teacher has been but on leave and is "inaccessible". No charges have been filed and the boy's father, Telu Ram, is to poor to pursue the case on his own.

Story in the India Times

Summer Reading : F.B.I. Style

2008-07-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

The F.B.!. has come with a summer reading list. They are on the lookout for the following books:

150 copies of Understanding Terror Networks

30 copies of Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times

130 copies of The Koran (Penguin Classics version)

150 copies of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

180 copies of Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill

30 copies of Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror

30 copies of American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us

30 copies of Islam: A Short History

They also need 100 copies of the 2008 Federal Criminal Code Rules Book.

They are also looking for a slew of Microsoft related how-to books.

Details of how you can you can sell them these books here.

Thanks to Resource Shelf for the lead

Her Name Was Book

2008-07-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

She came into the world as Joyce Columbia Bernur and when she left it in February of last year she was Joyce Columbia Book. She also left $77,000 to the Berkeley Public Library.

Book lived in the Berkeley area for the whole of her adult life and beside her love of reading and libraries she was also an early supporter of animal rights.

BPL Community Relations Librarian Alan Bern told the East Bay Express that in her later years "She was once heard to say that she wished she could just move into that library and live there for the rest of her days."

When she could no longer get to the library she utilized the Berkeley Public Library's Outreach home delivery program. She loved 'cozy' mysteries or mysteries with cats in them and was a collector of books on astrology.

Ms. Book R.I.P.

Story at the East Bay Express

Barack Obama's Reading Life

2008-07-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

"If Obama is elected, he'll be one of the most literary presidents in recent memory" says Laura Miller in her piece, "Barack by the Books", at Salon.com. Miller takes a "look at some of the formative books in his intellectual and political life to see if we can learn more about the man behind the movement."

"Obama the reader blossomed as an undergraduate at Occidental College in California and, especially, during the two monkish years he spent finishing up his degree at Columbia University in New York. "I had tons of books," he told his biographer, David Mendell ("Obama: From Promise to Power"), about this time in his life. "I read everything. I think that was the period when I grew as much as I have ever grown intellectually. But it was a very internal growth." Even after he left New York to work as a community organizer in Chicago, Mendell reports, Obama lived so much like a retiring writer -- spending many hours holed up in a spartan apartment with volumes of "philosophy and literature" -- that some of his colleagues assumed he was gathering material for a novel."

Obama's reading list included:

Herman Melville
Toni Morrison
E.L. Doctorow -"cited as his favorite before he switched to Shakespeare"
Philip Roth
Nietzsche
Reinhold Niebuhr
Ralph Ellison
Malcolm X
and the legendary community activist Saul Alinsky

Related Book Patrol posts:
The Role of the Book in the Ascent of Barak Obama
Books Hit the Campaign Trail
What Barack is Reading
The Biblio Campaign Trail: The New Road to the White House
What's Your Candidate Reading?
What the Candidates Should Be Reading
The Presidential Book Debate
Which Book Would You Bring to the White House?

Book Umbrella

2008-07-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

For a mere $7 you can enhance your beach reading experience with The BookShade from Neat-O Concepts. Simply attach to the spine and The BookShade eliminates eye strain and sun glare. It works for both hardbacks and paperbacks and can be rotated into any desired position.
Is the Kindle version far behind?

Available here

Via

Bookseller Catalogues Part II

2008-07-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

Having just issued my first two catalogues during the last year, Michael's weekend post on the resurgence of this bookselling tool was of particular interest. I completely agree that catalogues are making a comeback, perhaps especially among younger booksellers (an incredibly relative term in the antiquarian book biz - see Between the Covers' Tom Congleton for more on this). In addition to the previously-mentioned Derringer Books and Jeff Maser (and even, for that matter, Wessel and Lieberman), I would also throw out the examples of Garrett Scott (whose Some preliminary notes on the aesthetic merits of interesting catalogues is another great take on the matter), Royal Books, Harper's Books, and Lux Mentis as examples of younger(ish) booksellers issuing exciting catalogues. Jed Birmingham approached the question of catalogues from the point-of-view of a collector last year for his Bibliographic Bunker column on the William S. Burroughs website Reality Studio. And at the risk of quoting myself, around the same time I expanded on my own reasons for issuing a catalogue and what the future of catalogues might be:

For me, the decision to issue my first catalogue was one I made more than a year ago and was due to a number of factors. First and foremost, I had items that required a catalogue to sell them properly. The constraints of most databases mean that for important items needing long descriptions, necessary information would have to be left out or only suggested. Catalogues allow you to sell the book the way you want, with as many images as desired and with as much verbosity as you can muster.

Not only that, but put frankly - a dealer is not going to sell very expensive books on the internet. Few collectors or institutions are going to plunk down several thousand dollars on a book through ABE. A quick look at ABE’s monthly list of most expensive books sold bears this out; these prices are regularly eclipsed by book auction results and listings in dealer catalogues. A catalogue demonstrates a certain professionalism and proficiency that lend themselves to confidence on the buyer’s part. A catalogue also allows you to target your marketing, aiming your books at the customers and collections who would most be interested in your offerings. And finally, as a new and relatively young dealer, my hope was my first catalogue would act as a kind of calling card within the book world - a way to announce myself. So there were both practical and marketing reasons for my decision to issue my first catalogue.

That said, I recognize that the internet necessitates certain changes in catalogues, modifications that in my opinion need to be adopted if catalogues are to continue and if they are to be used successfully. In the current climate of easy price-comparison and simple access to many millions of books, a catalogue to succeed must meet two or more of the following criteria, and the more the better:

1) Scarce, rare, unique or unusual offerings.
2) Competitive, if not down right tempting, prices.
3) An interesting and informed perspective.
4) An appealing format and presentation.
5) A cohesive marketing identity - branding, if you will.

Before the ubiquity of the internet, a dealer - because of asymmetrical information - could often get by with perhaps a well-designed catalogue, or a well-written one. Now, however, either #1 or #2 are musts (and preferably both) and they need to be coupled with at least one of the remaining conditions. Why? Because for catalogues to succeed they must offer something the internet does not.

Finally, I should also mention new bookseller Chris Lowenstein of Book Hunters Holiday, who has been documenting her own experiences readying her Dante catalogue on her blog. Having read a draft of the catalogue, I can say with certainty Chris will make a fine addition to the list of booksellers using this still-vital tool.

Bill Gates Gets His Book Back

2008-06-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

This is Bill Gates' copy of "Introduction to Programming," a 1969 manual for Digital Equipment Corp.'s PDP-8 mini-computer that Gates had in high school.

Using an IBM Selectric typewriter with a rotating typeball that produced italic lettering Gates typed the following on the inside cover "Bill Gates owns this book. He wants it. Give it back to him! He will tell you."

Well, Gates finally got it back. 35 years after fellow high school classmate Rami Grunbaum "packed the manual away with other books after graduating in 1974, a year after Gates," it was returned to him by Seattle Times technology reporter Ben Romano during an interview this month.

It might not be worth as much as the $30 million Leonardo Da Vinci manuscript Gates acquired in 1994 but you would be hard pressed to find a better association copy.

Rami Grunbaum's piece in the Seattle Times.

Photo taken by Courtney Blethen / Seattle Times

The Return of the Bookseller Catalog

2008-06-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Derringer Books. Catalog 17. Designed by Andrea Latham

Publishers might be considering giving up on the printed catalogs but bookseller catalogs are making a comeback. Since the early days of bookselling the catalog was the cornerstone of a bookseller's business. It was the premier sales channel for the trade. They became; however, an early casualty of online bookselling. Many booksellers completely abandoned the catalog format while focusing on developing an online presence. Most of us thought they were no longer necessary. Now, a little over a decade later, most have returned to the catalog.

Jeff Maser. Catalog 46. Designed by Andrea Latham

Why? A lot has to do with online saturation. Outside of one's own website it has become very difficult to separate oneself from the hoards of people who have joined the online bookselling ranks. There are just too many books online and most are being listed by people with little or no experience in traditional bookselling. The quality is being swallowed up by the quantity. The saddest part is that it has become virtually impossible for the end user, the potential customer, to make sense of what they are seeing online. Buying books online has become a crap shoot.

Serendipity Books. Catalog for the New York Antiquarian Book Fair 2004. Designed by Andrea Latham

So, it is back to the catalog and while we were away the technology, printing and production options have improved greatly allowing us to infuse new life to this old bookselling staple. As the images in this post show, high quality graphic design has also entered the fray.

Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers. Catalog 39. Designed by John Hubbard

While I was preparing this post we received the latest catalog from Rulon-Miller Books. Rulon-Miller's cover rant perfectly conveys the frustrations and new challenges the traditional bookseller faces. Click on it to enlarge and enjoy!

Wipe Away the Confusion

2008-06-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

click on image to enlarge

Poster designed by Shaz Madani to promote the M25 Motorway in London.

Front side "gives exact directions that would have to be taken in order to travel from one side of London to the other illustrating the complexity and confusion involved in taking alternate routes through the center of the city"

Back side reads 'wipe away the confusion take the M25"

Thanks to pan-dan for the lead

Zoomii : A Virtual, Virtual "Bookstore"

2008-06-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

When Amazon.com burst on to the scene as the world's first virtual bookstore who knew that it would eventually turn an entire industry upside down. Overnight, practically every book in print was made available at discounted prices to anyone with computer access. It wasn't long before the traditional independent new bookstore began to die.

Now comes Zoomii "an online version of a real bookstore with Amazon's low prices, secure payment and fast shipping." Zoomii takes Amazon's entire catalog and turns it into a visual browsing trip. Essentially an Amazon affiliate, with all order processing done by Amazon, that utilizes Amazon's powerful Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Simple Storage Service (S3) Zoomii is banking on the armies of readers and book buyers who do judge a book by its cover.

While it feels a little gimmicky, and their claim of being "an online version of a real bookstore" is a bit of an oxymoron, I can see potential crossover application to the antiquarian market. I can imagine a bookseller using the technology to create a visual online representation of a catalog or to highlight particular sections of their shop.

Here is a two minute video of how it works:

Thanks to ReadWriteWeb for the lead

'Used Book' : A Sonnet by Julie Kane

2008-06-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

USED BOOK

What luck—an open bookstore up ahead
as rain lashed awnings over Royal Street,
and then to find the books were secondhand,
with one whole wall assigned to poetry;
and then, as if that wasn’t luck enough,
to find, between Jarrell and Weldon Kees,
the blue-on-cream, familiar backbone of
my chapbook, out of print since ’83—
its cover very slightly coffee-stained,
but aging (all in all) no worse than flesh
through all those cycles of the seasons since
its publication by a London press.
Then, out of luck, I read the name inside:
The man I thought would love me till I died.

Julie Kane is an Associate Professor in English at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. 'Used Book' won first prize in the 2007 Open Poetry International Sonnet Competition. Her book Rythym and Booze was selected by Maxine Kumin in 2003 as one of the five volumes published in the National Poetry Series.

The poem powerfully coveys the serendipity inherent in the used bookstore experience. It is not only what you might find while browsing the shelves but what might be inside what you find that moves you. Here, by finding one of her works, Kane is transported back to the 'familiar backbone' of her past and ponders the graceful evolution of her life and the life of the book. The reverie is shattered; however, once the book is opened and the pain of the past rushes in.

This can't happen online. This poem is a shining example of the power of the bookshop and the impact it has on the lives of many of the people who stroll up and down its aisles.