Poor Richard's Biblomac

Though it sounds like a cross between Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack and an e-reader by Apple, the Biblomac was a short lived newspaper for the book world. It debuted in New York in August of 1940 and lasted all of 3 issues.

Stephen Ferguson at Princeton University's Rare Book and Special Collection blog unearthed a copy of the premier issue and shares an excerpt of the lead editorial written by one of the publishers, Herbert Burstein.

For the most part, Poor Richard’s Biblomac reflects an idea we have - an idea that anyone whose stock-in-trade is books - the librarian, the bookseller, the publisher—has a function in democratic society that means something more than delivering books from stack to reader. And, today, when the propaganda of self-acclaimed patriots and pundits is peddled among more and more customers so that democracy is in increasing danger of finding itself saved by totalitarians, when labeling individuals and groups with the neologism “fifth column” is becoming a national pastime and when the word and the book is suspect, there is a need for a publication which will discuss the issues which confront the bookman in his capacity as citizen, discuss his function and urge its exercize. Poor Richard’s Biblomac may not be that publication but we will try.

Because we believe that the book, as much as the bullet, is ammunition for the democratic state—that the needs of our American democracy are best served by more, and not less, democracy, we will expose and oppose trends and movements designed to cripple libraries and hamper book production and reading. We have made a start, we think by devoting part of this issue to the question: shall libraries censor reading?

We have no illusion that we shall turn tides or, more modestly, change attitudes. We are content if, from time to time, we shall be able to create interest and discussion in vital problems, ruffle the calm waters of the status quo and, if necessary, make nuisances of ourselves about things we think matter. Herbert Burstein.

Here we are 68 years later and much of what Burstein says still resonates. His approach should still serve as a rallying cry to all who work within the book universe and to all who believe that "the book, as much as the bullet, is ammunition for the democratic state."

I can't wait until the entire issue is digitized.

A Modern Marvel : The Library of Jay Walker

Inspiration Point

"Nothing quite prepares you for the culture shock of Jay Walker's library" is how Steven Levy begins his piece for Wired on this amazing library. Though Walker has opened his library in the past to select schools, executives, politicians, and scholars this is the first time he has invited a member of the press to have a look.

Walker, the founder of Priceline.com and Walker Digital, is an inventor and entrepreneur who has been twice been named by the editors of TIME magazine as one of the 50 most influential business leaders in the digital age. Business Week selected him as one of its 25 Internet pioneers most responsible for "changing the competitive landscape of almost every industry in the world." Newsweek cited him as one of three executives at the forefront of the Internet commerce revolution.

Well, now he can add this to his bio- Creator of one of the most amazing private libraries in the modern age.

Walker's approach "shuns the sort of bibliomania that covets first editions for their own sake"
"What gets him excited are things that changed the way people think" and his library is teeming with technical and intellectual hi-spots. "What excites him even more is using his treasures to make mind-expanding connections...like placing a 16th-century map that combines experience and guesswork—"the first one showing North and South America," he says—next to a modern map carried by astronauts to the moon"

Reading Room

Here's what you're looking at:

Bottom row - a slew of jeweled bindings by Sangorski & Sutcliffe

On the table (first row, from left) -
- a 16th-century book of jousting,
-a Dickens novel decorated with the author's portrait, and (open, with Post-it flags) an original - - a copy of the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, the first illustrated history book.

Second row:
- the 1535 Coverdale Bible (the first completely translated into modern English),
- a medieval tome with intricate illustrations of dwarfs,
- a collection of portraits commissioned at a 17th-century German festival
- a tree-bark Indonesian guide to cannibalism
- a Middle Eastern mother goddess icon from around 5000 BC.

and it just keeps going.

Walker refers to his library as "an engagement space," he even holds company meetings in the library (at the Inspiration Point section pictured above).

"In no time, your mind is stretched like hot taffy." says Levy and that after all is the essence of a library.

Thanks for letting us in.

wordia : Dictionary 3.0

Invite to the launch party

There's a new dictionary in town. It's called wordia and they've set out to "create a new kind of dictionary - a democratic ‘visual dictionary’. A place where anyone with a video, webcam or mobile phone can define the words that matter to them in their life."

wordia has partnered with HarperCollins, who will provide the textual dictionary, and YouTube who will host the video content.

The site will be moderated with videos being both user-generated and professionally produced.

wordia launced with 76,000 words, 120,000 definitions, and another 21,000 thesaurus entries.

The launch party was held at Samuel Johnson's house. Dr. Johnson compiled the first English language dictionary which was published back in 1755.

Related:
Oxford English Dictionary has just released September's list of new words.

wordia's You Tube channel

Telegraph piece
TechCrunch story
If:book post

A Visual Review of Philip Roth's Latest Novel, Indignation

Ward Sutton, author of the must read political cartoon series Sutton Impact, reviews Philip Roth's latest novel, Indignation, at the Village Voice. The review consists of a 9 image slideshow in cartoon format.

What a fantastic concept and one that begs to be developed. This format presents a tremendous opportunity to engage the younger generation, the ones most at risk of living a book less life, in the biblio-universe.



Thanks to Scott Esposito at Conversational Reading for the lead.

The Ukulele Books of Peter and Donna Thomas

Ukulele Series Book #2: The Ukulele Accordion. 1996
Text is Little Grass Shack, handwritten and illustrated ukulele shaped paper cut in paper doll style. Leather bound cover with leather onlay picture in sound hole.

"I love to make books and I love to play the ukulele. Can I put these two loves together? Can I make a book out of a uke?" After Donna and I made the first one, I thought, "How many more can we make? Each one will have to represent a different book structure, format or concept and each will still have to play...." Well, to date Peter and Donna Thomas have made over 20 ukulele books.

Ukulele Series Book #23. A Brief History of the Ukulele. 2003. This book was made by sawing a ukulele in half, building up the insides and then re-connecting the two halves with hinges and a lock... The text was originally made by Donna for a miniature book in 1999. It has been enlarged and reprinted for this edition, with a new title page and colophon, printed on Peter's handmade paper, sewn to the text. Edition of fifteen copies

Ukulele Series Book #20 The Ukulele Flip Book. 2003 This Regal uke has been converted into a flip book showing a mainlander's dream of paradise. The animated hula dancer was created by Evert Padden. The pages are attached to a dowel with a brass crank handle. This is inserted through a hole in the side of the ukulele and the pictures are viewed through the sound hole.

Ukulele Series Book #11 The Concertina Ukulele. 2002
This was an inexpensive 1960-70s Japanese "Aloha" ukulele. The neck was warped, so it didn't hurt the instrument much to be cut in half. Boards were mounted inside each half to create a cavity. The halves are hinged at the bottom of the ukulele, and there is a simple clasp through the heel. Cards with vintage images (from matchbooks and other Hawaiiana ephemera) are attached to a paper concertina inside the ukulele, and this is how we justify calling it the Concertina Ukulele. Two vintage matchbooks are mounted above and below the concertina and the thing that took the longest making this uke book was finding the proper vintage match books. It is called a concertina ukulele because of the folded paper concertina "spine" that the cards are attached to.

Essay by Peter Thomas, "Why I Made These Ukulele Books"

Related:

Looking for an instrument to hold some of your books, CD's and DVD's? Over at the UK's RedSave.com you'll find this:

the Double Bass Storage Cabinet.


Thanks to the Bookshelf blog for the lead on the Double Bass Storage Cabinet

New Yorker: David Foster Wallace Homage?

Hard to tell if this is coincidence, but intentional or not, I can't help but read this week's New Yorker Caption Contest (image above) as slyly alluding to the sadly-departed David Foster Wallace by way of the title essay from his last non-fiction collection:


And on a related note, the Wallace fan-site Howling Fantods recently held a DFW Motivational Poster Competition which included this gem, now somehow tinged heavily with a deep sense of pathos for me:


If you're unfamiliar with Wallace and are perhaps wondering what all the fuss has been about these past few days, you could do worse than start with his 2005 Commencement Address at Kenyon College:

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What the hell is water?"

This is a standard requirement of US commencement speeches, the deployment of didactic little parable-ish stories. The story ["thing"] turns out to be one of the better, less bullshitty conventions of the genre, but if you're worried that I plan to present myself here as the wise, older fish explaining what water is to you younger fish, please don't be. I am not the wise old fish. The point of the fish story is merely that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about. Stated as an English sentence, of course, this is just a banal platitude, but the fact is that in the day to day trenches of adult existence, banal platitudes can have a life or death importance, or so I wish to suggest to you on this dry and lovely morning.

Comedian Patton Oswald just about captured my feelings about this piece and about DFW's death in general on his website yesterday:

His commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005 changed my life, as I wrote in an earlier SPEW. A day hasn't gone by where I haven't thought of some aspect of the speech.

Why the fuck would someone so in touch with camouflaged, mystic dimensions want to leave the feast? I'm not anti-suicide in general. But in specific cases -- and specifically in the case of David Foster Wallace -- I'm very anti-suicide. I demand that minds and souls like his stick around.

And finally, The Morning News just posted the best collection of links related to Wallace's career and death currently available. A fine tribute.

Sarah Palin - Time to Tell Us About Your Reading Life

As the evidence mounts, Palin and Company continue their steadfast denial of her involvement in any book banning activities during her tenure as mayor.

The New York Times reports that although "witnesses and contemporary news accounts say Ms. Palin asked the librarian about removing books from the shelves. The McCain-Palin presidential campaign says Ms. Palin never advocated censorship."

The story goes on:

But in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book “Daddy’s Roommate” on the shelves and that it did not belong there, according to Ms. Chase [Laura Chase, the campaign manager during Ms. Palin’s first run for mayor in 1996] and Mr. Stein [John Stein, former Mayor of Wasilla]. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it. “Sarah said she didn’t need to read that stuff,” Ms. Chase said. “It was disturbing that someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn’t even read it.”

Maybe it's time we ask her what she has read!

The time has come for Palin to answer questions like:

What books have had the most influence on you?

What books are you currently reading to your children?

Who are your favorite writers?

What are you reading now? For work? For pleasure?

The answers to these questions would go along way in helping many of us determine whether or not she is fit for the job.


Related:
The author of "Daddy's Roomate," Michael Willhoite, responds "saying the Alaska Governor had a "small-town mind," was an enemy of intellectual freedom and [is] a "disastrous choice" for vice president."

Previously on Book Patrol:
Sarah Palin's Library Issue is Now a Campaign Issue
The Wasilla 90 : An Internet Legend is Born

David Foster Wallace RIP

Though it sounds like something out of one of his novels, the LA Times is reporting that David Foster Wallace is dead of an apparent suicide.

Megalisters Hit the Mainstream

Mick Sussman's essay "Attack of the Megalisters" appears in the Book Review section of Sunday's New York Times and brings to light the work of this new breed of online bookseller.

Before I talk about the piece I want to give a tip of the hat to the book coverage at the New York Times. While the book sections of most newspapers are disappearing or crumbling the NYT has expanded their coverage of the book world. Yes, it is still mostly populated by reviews and the the inherent politics that surround them but they have opened the doors to coverage of other aspects of the book universe. Sussman's essay for one, though it deals with those who exist at the bottom of bookselling food chain, brings much needed exposure to the ever growing non-new book world. The addition of Steve Heller's Visuals column and it's focus on book design and illustration also enlarges and enriches. Then there is Paper Cuts "a blog about books and other forms of printed matter, written by the editors of The Book Review." It's the "other forms of printed matter" that makes me smile.

There is still hope.

Now on to the Megalisters.

Highlights:

The mention of Larry McMurtry and his recent memoir "Books." Though, it's almost sacrilegious to even mention McMurtry and the "McMurtrian ideals" in a piece on the bottom-feeders of the book world it does provide a vivid contrast. It illuminates just how long the continuum is in regards to people's relationships with books. For McMurtry the tactile experience, "the pleasure of handling a fine copy of a rare book," is one of the joys of his book life.
For the megalisters that tactile relationship is based on a "scanning" experience. Pick up the book, scan the bar code, let the software price and put it on the shelf.

Lowlights:

"the state of the art in used-bookselling these days seems to be less about connoisseurship than about database management"

"The megalisters — a name originally intended as a term of abuse but now accepted by the accused"

"What we are trying to do is provide cheap books for everybody" - G. Seth Beal COO of megalister Thrift Books.

Wondering about the staying power of the paperback editions of the current bestsellers? Eight of the 15 titles on the Times's paperback bestseller list from a year ago are available on Amazon for a penny each!

“rare but not collectible” - a new breed of book "sought after not as artifacts or for resale value, but for their content," apparently the part of a new strategy that "involves a selective embrace of e-commerce, focused mainly on a category of book that scarcely existed before the Internet"

"What method are the smaller used-book sellers using to survive?"
“Hit ’em where they ain’t” by turning the labor-intensive “hand selling” approach into an advantage, says Gene Alloway the co-owner of Motte & Bailey, Booksellers, in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The traditional independent bookseller, or the "mom-and-pop operation" as Sussman frames it, is now referred to a "hand seller."

and the one that takes the cake and still has me shaking my head

"hand sellers have allies in marketplace sites like Biblio, which keeps out the penny sellers with policies like a $1 minimum price."

Oy vey!

Sorry Biblio, you're still part of the problem not the solution.

Previously on Book Patrol:
A Megalister Exposed

Saturday Link Dump

Plastic Logic launches as-yet unnamed e-reader aimed at business users. Some call it the the Kindle Killer.

Book-themed furniture: love these bookends, adore these book vases, and want the see-saw bookshelf.

Over 2500 dust-jacket from the NYPL.

Beautiful short film on letterpress printing.

Lord Buckley does Poe's "Raven". So does the great Basil Rathbone.

VIDEO: Browsing the world's oldest telephone.

Make your own flip book.

A versatile and interactive map of new bookstores.

The Henry Ford of Literature.

Amazing collection of graphic design books.

Chapbooks: An Appreciation.

Looks good: Grolier launches Virginia Woolf exhibition.

Fantastic: Archive of public domain comic strips.

Wow: Archive of things found in books at one bookstore.

Man reads every book from a big box of vintage paperbacks found in a thrift store.

Considering: the iPhone as comics/graphic novel platform.

"A novel from 1969 comes as a box of unbound sheaves, giving the reader a sense of the fragile experiences it contains."

The Future of Book Fairs: A Report from Santa Monica

[First, a note to self: Don't come up with any more crazy ideas about trying to do a book fair AND do something else - like, oh I don't know, post pictures and updates from the fair. Not a good idea. You will have neither the time nor the energy.]

Last weekend's Santa Monica Book Fair has me - and many other dealers - thinking about the future of smaller regional fairs. The event itself was well-run and organized, and with over eighty dealers exhibiting from around the country was a sell-out. From that angle, the show was a success.

Among the dealers, however, a very different picture emerged:

"Dull."

"Lack-luster."

"Anemic."

"Slow."

During the show, many were heard complaining that this was their worst Santa Monica fair ever (more on this below). After the show, many dealers reported sales 1/3 to 1/2 of what they were only the year before. And many sellers (myself included), found the vast majority of their sales were to others in the trade, with little to so-called "civilians."

What was going on?

The most obvious cause was attendance, which everyone I spoke with agreed was way down from previous years. The usual suspects were offered for fewer shoppers: the economy, the current uneasy political climate, and the price of gas, etc. And undoubtedly these played a part.

But I've been wondering if perhaps other forces were also at work.

Because for the first time in my (admittedly brief) two years of exhibiting at fairs, the impact of the internet was frequently brought into the exhibition hall itself. This was the first fair I've attended where I regularly saw customers examine a book, then set it down and take out their cellphones to (presumably) compare prices online.

Now let me say right off, I have nothing against this practice. It's something I sometimes do myself. But it would be naive to think that near-instant access to online pricing information on the part of buyers won't impact the future of bookfairs (and for that matter bookstores).

Certainly, for those sellers with overpriced stock relative to online options, this will be a bad development (and a good one for buyers). However,I worry the change could potentially be a poor one even for those dealers offering competitive prices. I say this because I find that many people fail to properly compare like to like. I see this in my shop all the time. People come in thinking they have an expensive book, ABE print-outs in-hand. But most haven't accounted for condition, edition, etc. And I suspect the reverse happens at a fair: "Oh, I could get that cheaper online." When in fact a closer examination of the data (something not encouraged on the small and rather slow devices) might show that accounting for jackets, condition, edition, etc. a cheaper copy couldn't be found.

Additionally, I fear it further contributes to the general amateurization of our trade: collectors working less and less closely with dealers and relying more and more on their own information and judgment. Again, in theory not necessarily a bad development. But it is one that certainly impacts the trade.

And finally and most obviously, I think it could lead to a further lessening of fair purchases as potential buyers feel less and less a sense of urgency to pick up books they can just as easily pick up online. This of course has been developing since internet bookselling came along, but with online access more and more available "on-the-go" the effect is likely to be exacerbated.

What to do? Increasingly I think dealers will have to tailor their book fair stock to reflect these new realities. And we (both sellers and promoters) will need to work harder to take advantage of the face-to-face interactions fairs afford: to inform, encourage, educate, and develop collectors and clientele.

Chris Lowenstein from Book Hunter's Holiday has another report from the fair, including this revealing exchange with a customer:

The gentleman in my booth pulled out a few books, looked through them, and then asked me about them. We had a short conversation, and at the end of it he remarked, “You’re very friendly and approachable.”

I wasn’t quite sure how to take this. Why wouldn’t I be friendly and approachable? This is a potential book fair customer, and a potential repeat client. “Thanks,” I responded. “I’m happy to answer any questions about the books and it’s always a pleasure to meet someone who finds the same enjoyment in books that I do.”

Here’s where it gets interesting:

“Well,” he said. “Your fellow booksellers sure are a dour bunch. When you walk into their booths they hardly look at you and if you stay in a booth long enough you can hear one dealer say to another that their sales are slow or the customers aren’t buying. I have one piece of advice for them: If you want better sales, at least acknowledge and smile at your customer when he enters your booth.”

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Sarah Palin's Library Issue is Now a Campaign Issue

The McCain campaign has released a memo addressing the controversy surrounding Sarah Palin's involvement, or lack thereof, in a book banning crusade at the Wasilla Public Library.

"A vicious smear has spread across liberal outlets and blogs into the mainstream media...This smear is categorically false and has no basis in fact. It is an urban myth — nothing more." says the memo.

A response to the memo on Truthdig highlights the fact that "the campaign’s 1,615-word memo on the subject indirectly supports the accusation. As Palin’s mayoral predecessor recalls, “She asked the library how she could go about banning book,” and though the campaign memo says "then-Mayor Palin never asked anyone to ban a book and not one book was ever banned, "

That doesn’t mean that the mayor didn’t ask if she could have books banned.

Here is the memo in its entirety:

TO: Interested Parties
RE: Smear Machine Rolls On: Governor Palin And Library Books

DATE: September 8, 2008

“All questions posed to Wasilla’s library director were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city.” — Mayor Sarah Palin, December 16, 1996

Over the last two weeks, a vicious smear has spread across liberal outlets and blogs into the mainstream media that as the Mayor of Wasilla, Governor Palin banned several books from the Wasilla City Library. This smear is categorically false and has no basis in fact. It is an urban myth — nothing more. Then-Mayor Palin never asked anyone to ban a book and not one book was ever banned, period.

Please find the facts below:

· As Mayor, Palin never asked to ban a book and no books were ever banned from the Wasilla Library, period. According to the Chairwoman of the Alaska Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee since 1984, there are no records of any books being banned in Wasilla. As the Chairwoman told the Anchorage Daily News this month, she has no record or recollection of discussing threats of censorship with the Wasilla Library Director — who was also the President of the Alaska Library Association at the time.

· When first elected, Mayor Palin asked a rhetorical question of the Wasilla Library Director about the library’s book-challenge policy. It was a rhetorical question — nothing more. As Mayor Palin said at the time, she was merely asking questions about administration policies (the book-challenge policy being pertinent because of the local debate at the time) and that she had no materials in mind when she asked the questions. After these rhetorical questions, no other action was ever taken by her office.

· When Mayor Palin asked these rhetorical questions, Wasilla’s Library Director was working to update the city’s book-challenge policy, and these issues were part of the local debate in the early 1990s — including a contentious book-challenge in Wasilla in 1995. It should not be surprising that the Mayor of Wasilla would ask questions about a policy one of her department heads was working to update. As was reported at the time, “The timing of the issue comes at a time when [the Wasilla Library Director] is trying to get the book-challenge policies of the Wasilla Library and of the Palmer City Library in line with the Mat-Su Borough policy, revised in December of last year.” As the city’s executive, it was only responsible for Mayor Palin to ask about library policies. At the time, the area around Wasilla was engaged in a local debate concerning challenges to books at libraries and the Wasilla library was in the process of reevaluating its book-challenge policy. As the Wasilla Librarian said in 1996, the Wasilla Library did have a book-challenge policy that had been tested in 1995 — before Palin became Mayor.

· Mayor Palin NEVER mentioned any specific books — contrary to the smear emails circulating around the Internet. In the past few days, several reporters have presented the McCain-Palin campaign with lists of books that Mayor Palin supposedly sought to ban. These lists are clearly drawn from smear websites as they are factually inaccurate. For example, one list shown to the campaign by a mainstream news outlet listed the Harry Potter books as supposedly banned by Governor Palin in Wasilla. However, the timing shows this to be completely false: Governor Palin’s involvement in this issue occurred in 1996 and the first Harry Potter book was not published in the United States until 1998.

· Upon taking office, Mayor Palin did ask for several department heads to resign — including the librarian. This was in no way related to Mayor Palin’s rhetorical questions because the librarian ultimately retained her position. The resignations requests were nothing more than Mayor Palin taking over as the city’s chief executive and seeking to have department heads in place who supported her agenda in Wasilla.

Background Information

In A 1996 Interview With The Frontiersman, Then-Mayor Palin Brought Up That She Had Asked The Librarian How She Would Respond To Censorship As Part Of Her “Discussions With Her Department Heads About Understanding And Following Administration Agenda.” “The issue became public last Wednesday, when Palin brought it up during an interview about the now-defunct Liquor Task Force. Palin used the library topic as an example of discussions with her department heads about understanding and following administration agendas. Palin said she asked Emmons how she would respond to censorship.” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

Palin Had No Particular Books Or Other Material In Mind When She Asked The Questions Of The Librarian. “‘I’m not trying to suppress anyone’s views,’ Emmons said. ‘But I told her (Palin) clearly, I will fight anyone who tries to dictate what books can go on library shelves.’ Palin said Monday she had no particular books or other material in mind when she posed the questions to Emmons.” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

Palin: “All Questions Posed To Wasilla’s Library Director Were Asked In The Context Of Professionalism Regarding The Library Policy That Is In Place In Our City.” “Asked who she thought might picket the library, Palin said Monday, ‘Had no one in mind … again, this issue was discussed in the context of a professional question being asked in regards to library policy. All questions posed to Wasilla’s library director were asked in the context of professionalism regarding the library policy that is in place in our city. Obviously the issue of censorship is a library question … you ask a library director that type of question,’ Palin said.” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

Palin Explained Her Questions About Library Book Policy Were “Rhetorical.” “In the wake of strong reactions from the city’s library director to inquiries about censorship, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin on Monday was taking pains to explain her questions about censoring library material were ‘rhetorical.’” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

Palin’s Questions Came At A Time When The Library System Was Evaluating Book-Challenge Policies. “The timing of the issue comes at a time when Emmons is trying to get the book-challenge policies of the Wasilla Library and of the Palmer City Library in line with the Mat-Su Borough policy, revised in December of last year. Emmons described the new borough policy as ‘a very good one.’” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

· Wasilla Had Faced A Book-Challenge Case In 1995. “Emmons said the current Wasilla policy, which she described as written in more general terms than the borough’s also worked procedurally in a book-challenge case last year.” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

Palin Said Her Questions Were An Attempt To Familiarize Herself With City Staff And Other Issues Were Discussed. “Monday Palin said in a written statement she was only trying to get acquainted with her staff at the time. ‘Many issues were discussed, both rhetorical and realistic in nature,’ Palin added.” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

The Librarian Told Palin She Would Object To Censorship. “Emmons recalled that in the Oct. 28 conversation she pulled no punches with her response to the mayor. ‘She asked me if I would object to censorship, and I replied, Yup,’ Emmons recounted Saturday. ‘And I told her it would not be just me. This was a constitutional question, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would get involved, too.’ Emmons said Palin asked her on Oct. 28 if she would object to censorship, even if people were circling the library in protest about a book. ‘I told her it would definitely be a problem the ACLU would take on then,’ Emmons said.” (Paul Stuart, “Palin: Library Censorship Inquiry ‘Rhetorical,’” The Frontiersman, 12/18/96)

According To The Chairwoman Of The Alaska Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee Since 1984, No Books Were Banned In Wasilla. “Were any books censored banned? June Pinell-Stephens, chairwoman of the Alaska Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee since 1984, checked her files Wednesday and came up empty-handed.” (Rindi White, “Palin Pressured Wasilla Librarian During First Term,” Anchorage Daily News, 9/4/08)

· Alaska Library Association Chairwoman: “No Records Of Any Phone Conversations” Regarding Any Potential Censorship Issue In Wasilla. “Pinell-Stephens also had no record of any phone conversations with Emmons about the issue back then. Emmons was president of the Alaska Library Association at the time.” (Rindi White, “Palin Pressured Wasilla Librarian During First Term,” Anchorage Daily News, 9/4/08)

· Palin Critic Anne Kilkenny Said Mayor Palin Never Mentioned Any Specific Books. “Palin didn’t mention specific books at that meeting, Kilkenny said.” (Rindi White, “Palin Pressured Wasilla Librarian During First Term,” Anchorage Daily News, 9/4/08)

Upon Taking Office, Mayor Palin Immediately Took Charge To Shake Up The Old Guard In Wasilla By Asking For Resignations And Reapplications For Several City Department Heads — Including Librarian Mary Ellen Emmons. “Sarah asked the department heads to resign and reapply for their positions. She requested resignations from the police chief, Public Works Director Jack Felton, Finance Director Duane Dvorak, and Librarian Mary Ellen Emmons. The city’s museum manager, John Cooper, already had resigned when Sarah eliminated his position. The new mayor’s startling demand for resignations tested the department heads’ willingness to transfer their loyalties to the new administration. ‘Wasilla is moving forward in a positive direction,’ Sarah said. ‘This is the time for the department heads to let me know if they plan to move forward or if it’s time for a change.’” (Kaylene Johnson, “Sarah: How A Hockey Mom Turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down,” Canada: Epicenter Press 2008, p. 46-47)

Previously on Book Patrol:
The Wasilla 90 : An Internet Legend is Born

The Wasilla 90 : An Internet Legend is Born

Woman standing in front of the Wasilla Public Library (1950s)

Update: McCain Camp Assails Book-Banning Report as a ‘Smear’ via Truthdig
McCain Camp Memo - Smear Machine Rolls On: Governor Palin And Library Books"

Ah, the power of the internets.

Following an article on the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin in Time Magazine, where mention is made of a conversation Palin had with the library on how one goes about banning books, a list of alleged banned books surfaced as a comment on the blog librarian.net and quickly spread through the book universe. Unfortunately, a few of the titles mentioned where published after she was mayor and no one could find the minutes from the Wasilla Library Board meeting that some said the list originated from.

Before we get to the list her are a few links:

Original post at librarian.net
Palin: Library censorship inquiries 'Rhetorical' a story that first ran in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Dec. 18, 1996
New blog Librarians Against Palin

Now-

The Wasilla 90:

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It’s Okay if You Don’t Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women’s Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil’s Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won’t by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth

That's a big list for a small town.

Jeanette Winterson on the Bookshop

"I am keen to preserve what is good in life, and that is often at odds with what is most profitable in life. Leaving aside the price arguments about supermarkets, bookshops have, or should have, a special place in our culture. We need books, and books are best browsed in the energetic peace of a small store where the owner loves reading, just like we do."

She goes on:

"real books belong to the heart, not the pocket, and there has to be a way of letting that be. I know that the internet is great for ordering whatever it is you need by tomorrow morning, and I am not trying to turn back the clock, I am trying to hold on to what is valuable - even if it doesn't make much money."

From the piece in the Times of London "Jeanette Winterson on how British booksellers could learn from the French "



Thanks to Shelf Awareness for lead

More Political Poetry - Denise Levertov and Vietnam

nothing we do has the quickness, the sureness,

the deep intelligence living at peace would have.

Denise Levertov, Life at War

The latest podcast in the alt.NPR Poetry Off the Shelf series, Battle of the Bards, focuses on Denise Levertov's poem Life at War and how her relationship with fellow poet and mentor Robert Duncan was severely strained by Levertov's anti-war activism and her related poetry.

Ange Mlinko has a related piece,"Craft Vs. Conscience How the Vietnam War destroyed the friendship between Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov" at the Poetry Foundation's Online Journal.

Previously on Book Patrol:
A New Wave of Political Poetry

A New Wave of Political Poetry

It is difficult/to get the news from poems/ yet men die miserably every day/ for lack/ of what is found there. -William Carlos Williams

Need a little reality check after bearing witness to the madness of the Republican Convention?

The newly published anthology of contemporary political poetry, State of the Union : 50 Political Poems, by Wave Books might help.

The compilation is edited by Joshua Beckman and Matthew Zapruder and features the work of John Ashbery, Anselm Berrigan, Lucille Clifton, CAConrad, Peter Gizzi, James Tate, John Yau, Tao Lin, Eileen Myles, Michael Palmer, Wang Ping, and many others.

Heidi Broadhead has a nice interview with Beckman and Zapruder about the project over at Amazon's book blog, Omnivoracious.

Some highlights:

Zapruder-

"It has been clear to everyone for a long time that this current presidential election was going to be a historic one, with far-reaching consequences for the U.S. and the world. We wanted as editors, and poets, to contribute to the conversation at this crucial time, by putting together an anthology of poetry that would engage with the themes and issues that confront us, in ways that only poetry can."

Beckman-

"In creating this anthology we tried very hard not to have a definition of what a political poem was, while still constantly asking the question of what makes a political poem. I think we searched for work that felt like it was genuinely motivated by the needs of our present political circumstance."

Also of note - All royalties for State of the Union will be donated to Swords to Plowshares, a not-for-profit organization devoted to reducing homelessness and poverty among veterans through advocacy, public education and partnerships with local, state and national entities.

Here's to hoping it's a bestseller, god knows the vets need it!

The Library of Dust

Library of Dust is a haunting photographic odyssey by David Maisel. The work depicts individual copper canisters, each containing the cremated remains of patients from the Oregon State Hospital. The patients died at the hospital between 1883 (the year the facility opened, when it was called the Oregon State Insane Asylum) and the 1970’s. All have remained unclaimed by their families.



How did the title come about?

During Maisel's first visit to the hospital a "young male prisoner in a blue jumpsuit, with his feet planted firmly outside the doorway, leans his upper body into the room, scans the cremated remains, and whispers in a low tone, "The library of dust.”

Maisel goes on:

The prisoner’s use of the term “library” is apt. The room housing these canisters is an attempt for order, categorization, and rationality to be imposed upon randomness, chaos, and the irrational. Imagine the many separate fates that led these thousands of individuals to this room. What combination of choice and chance, of illness, of representation and misrepresentation, an infinite number of slippages multiplied more than three thousand times over, circumscribes this room, this library?.

The Library of Dust has just been published in book form by Chronicle Books. It features 80 photographs and essays by Geoff Manaugh, Terry Toedtemeier and Michael Roth.

An exhibit of Maisel's Library of Dust photos is currently on view at the Haines Gallery in San Francisco.

David Maisel's website

Thanks to boingboing for the lead

The Pyramid Collapses : BookWise Folds

BookWise the multi-level marketing (aka pyramid scheme) / book-club founded by Richard Paul Evans has failed.

Once touted by Evans as "the most intelligent home-based business in the world" BookWise has now merged with another multi-level marketing company iLearningGlobal, "a revolutionary success mentoring company, utilizing the power of online learning with an incredible compensation plan, higher payout and international opportunities."

In an email sent to BookWise members Evans says of the demise:

A couple months ago I learned a life changing lesson. I asked a billionaire friend of mine how do you know when it's time to quit. His reply sent chills down my back. He said, "I've never thought of winning in that way. Winning is really a matter of battles and wars. When it's prudent you change battlefields. BUT YOU NEVER QUIT THE WAR."

The BookWise war, or revolution, is about changing lives around the world by enabling people to dramatically improve their minds and finances. Unfortunately the BookWise battlefield isn't growing. There have been too many changes. Even though most of them have been positive, change is difficult and our Associates have lost faith. When you lose faith you can't succeed. It's time to quit the battle but not the war. We've found a remarkable solution.

Using war metaphors to explain a book-based business tells us how far off Evans is in understanding of book culture.

Book Patrol first covered this shady company back in March 2007. The post was titled "BookWise: The Book Worlds First Pyramid Scheme." and was followed in February 2008, after much negative feedback from the BookWise loyalists, with "BookWise: Book Club or Book Cult"

Evans and company are not totally out of the book world yet. If you go to BookWise you are redirected to WriteWise where for about $7000 they will help you become a best selling author!

Here is what you get:

• 3-day intense Boot Camp*
• Guided BEA (Book Expo America) field trip*
• A Guaranteed introduction to an Agent and/or publisher.
• Endorsement from a New York Times bestselling author.
• A Foreword from a New York Times bestselling author.
• Lifetime Admission to the WriteWise Annual National Writer´s Conference.
• Photograph with Robert G. Allen and/or Richard Paul Evans
• WriteWise mentoring telecourses, an intense and impressive series of live training sessions (recorded for later review) with weekly teleconference help sessions where you can ask WriteWise faculty experts your individual questions.

Oh, and you also have to pay your way to Boot Camp and the BEA.

That's a far cry from the new HarperCollins literary community authonomy where writers can post their work for free and garner wider exposure. Of course, you don't get the photo with Robert G. Allen and/or Richard Paul Evans but if you're good you'll have a much better chance at getting published.

If you're a writer, which one would you choose?

Live, from the Santa Monica Book Fair!

I leave tomorrow for the Santa Monica Book Fair where I'll be exhibiting (Booth 712a) and thought I would try something a little different.

Through the wonders of modern technology (read: my iPhone), I'll be posting nearly-live updates from the fair - from set-up to break-down and everything in between, maybe even a few from the road - via both Flickr and Twitter. If you'd like to follow along, here are the links:

The Santa Monica Book Fair - A Flickr Set (also available in RSS flavor)

Me on Twitter (or RSS)

Booth shots, interesting books, behind-the-scenes info...The next best thing to being there.

And I even have a few free passes left. Email me at books at briancassidy dot net and I'll leave one for your at the door if you'd like to attend; first come, first served.

Orwell Was Right

Vacant house. West Seattle. September, 2008

Image © Book Patrol

The Page Curler hits Seattle : Cara Barer Exhibit at Wessel & Lieberman

Carousel 25" x 25" Edition of 25

Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers is pleased to announce an exhibition of the work of Cara Barer.

The event will highlight the dynamic photographs the Houston-based artist and showcase her sculptural approach to the book.

Shot on a black background, found books take on color and shape, elegantly transposed by the artist’s hands into recognizable forms. The dirtied, warped, and sometimes dyed leaves of text may become the wings of a butterfly, the gills of a mushroom, or the intricately symmetrical crystals of a newly formed snowflake.

Two Dreams 14" x 14" Edition of 25

Cara Barer studied Art and Photography at the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and at the Art Institute of Houston. Her work has appeared in shows from New York to California, and throughout the state of Texas. This will be the first exhibition of her photography in the Pacific Northwest.

Roget's. 14" x 14" Edition of 25

View the online exhibition

Previously on Book Patrol:
The Page Curler

Elizabeth Wadell's piece at the Quarterly Conversation,
"The Book Art of Robert The, Cara Barer, and Jacqueline Rush Lee"

Cara Barer's website