There's something inherently fascinating—although I've never quite been able to put my finger on it—about those mysterious and supposedly intellectual fine art thieves who seem to make international headlines every few years. It's very James Bond, I guess. It turns out that stealing rare maps is also a thing. According to a fantastic book by Miles Harvey I recently read about this surprisingly odd underworld, map thieves in the United States tend to ply their trade in rickety old Eastern Seaboard university libraries, where they use X-Acto blades to remove maps from bound books. And of course, historic bound volumes themselves are stolen all the...

This is kind of a good news/bad news story. The good news is that Hachette is going to be offering its full catalog to libraries, including new releases. No windowing! The other piece of good news is that the books won't expire, unlike library books from HarperCollins, Penguin and Macmillan. I really like the no-expiration part. I always fee a bit guilty when I check out a HarperCollins book, start it and realize I don't like it. There went one of the 26 lends... The bad news is the pricing, although it's not all bad news, considering that the books won't expire. The...

The public library question is one we ask ourselves frequently here at TeleRead: In general, how well—or how poorly—are libraries adapting to the Internet age? And how, exactly, are library patrons using their local branches? (As low-cost coffee shops or free Internet cafes, perhaps?) And for that matter, do most patrons consider their local library's print book collection to be just as crucial as it ever was? Tough questions, all of them. If you spend a moment studying the infographic below, which was sent to us today from the website CityTownInfo.com, you'll likely come to the same conclusion we've come to...

Attention library advocates in Alexandria, Va.: Talking points for the local budget debate are here. Leaving us in the dark about the source of this tidbit, a Washington Post headline in the Style section blog says: “Alexandria, Virginia: the most well-read city in America.” Similar words show up elsewhere in the media about my hometown, the oft-paradoxical Washington suburb of some 146,000 where a bronze Confederate soldier stands in the middle of Washington Street despite an African-American mayor and a generally progressive city council. Alas, however, our number one ranking isn’t based on actual books and other items read per capita. Rather our spot at the top reflects what the Post accurately mentions in the...

The Lawrence (Kansas) Public Library found an innovative way to celebrate Banned Book Week last fall when it produced art trading cards. Lawrence Library picked seven books to put on its trading cards from 46 submissions. Books included 1984 (pictured), Animal Farm, and Little Red Riding Hood. The cards gained national attention, and they’re still receiving more. Lawrence Library became one of eight libraries to win a 2013 John Cotton Dana Award, which comes with a $10,000 award, the Lawrence Journal World reported. Locals got free packs, but the library sold others online and sent packs around the world, including to England, Canada and...

The main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library is how we all imagine a library should look—large ornate doors and columns with gold designs on each side. You feel as though you are walking into someplace special—as libraries should feel. But the Brooklyn Public Library, the fifth largest system in the country, isn’t immune to financial issues. The BPL is an independent system with 58 neighborhood libraries, and not affiliated with the New York City or Queens Borough Public Libraries. The BPL is looking at creative ways to raise money and has struck a deal with publisher Simon & Schuster to do so,...

By Erika Phyall For more than 50 years, National Library Week has highlighted the importance of libraries. Libraries and librarians play a crucial role in promoting reading and literacy. Although teachers often focus on teaching children how to read and building their general reading skills, it is libraries that help foster a love for reading, connecting children with books and communicating the importance of books to parents and the community. In honor of National Library Week, USC Rossier decided to highlight five infographics that also promote literacy. Happy reading!   1. Which Books Should You Read This Summer? Summer is the time to relax on the beach or curl...

A caveat first. The Digital Public Library of America is evolving. What’s more, I’m a booster of the organization and of the people behind it, including the new executive director, Dan Cohen, who so decently reacted after the Boston Marathon bombings. But for now, the academic-and-hacker mindset is prevailing at the DPLA over the traditional public library one, judging from the demo’s worthy but rather limited debut yesterday. Not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. But then, why insist on the P word in the organization’s name? Also, the K-12 appeal so far is not quite as great as I’d hoped despite some...

Yes, LibraryCity has been on an S. R. Ranganathan kick lately (here and here). Still ahead is a DPLA-related essay on his Five Laws of Library Science as applied to K-12, including school libraries—a follow-up to the LibraryCity post by Apple Distinguished Educator Donald R. Smith, a teacher-librarian with 40 years of experience. If you want to share any relevant thoughts for the next Ranganathan-inspired essay, just e-mail LibraryCity or use the comments area of this post. The essay should be online at LibraryCity.org in the next week or two, after some crucial research materials arrive. Meanwhile, some other ideas on K-12-related matters: The DPLA should work with state and local libraries toward the creation of a...

I vaguely remember seeing a few blog posts and photo-heavy features here and there in months past about tiny, DIY libraries. It always seemed to me like the sort of thing you might expect to see in one of those weird BuzzFeed roundups: 12 Oddball Book Lovers Who've Built Tiny Libraries On the Side of the Road, or something like that. But according to the last edition of O'Reilly Media's TOC Today newsletter (which you really, really should subscribe to if you don't already get it), tiny libraries are now a 'thing.' That is, a trend—or to be more specific, a quickly growing...

This is the era of bits and bytes and multimedia and 3D printing, not just books and other texts. But Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science would still apply today in spirit even after more than eighty years. Educated originally as a mathematician, S.R. Ranganathan was a library-science genius who studied librarianship in Great Britain and worked as the librarian at the University of Madras. Accurately or not, he is said to have beaten out 900 competitors for the job. He peppered his writings with Indian philosophy, dressed Ghandi-simple, and avoided coffee and tea. His laws, spelled out in a 1931 book available from the Hathi Trust in full text, are: 1....

For this third month of my DRM-free year, the big event was Read an E-Book Week. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the offerings. Most authors seemed to simply re-list whatever they had last year—some of these books didn't interest me then or now, and others I had already explored. A few others had impressed me in previous years and then had nothing new on offer. I have downloaded fewer and fewer books in each successive Read an E-Book Week year... Thank goodness for the message boards! A MobileRead poster alerted me to a publishing company called Bev...