E-books for beginners and a reminder for the book inclined

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Here's a nifty flow chart courtesy of Bookbee covering the basics of e-books in 5 easy steps. As you can plainly see it is far from a streamlined universal process and I trust it will only become more complicated before  it gets better.

And for those who remain on the paper side of the aisle. This handy reminder is for you. Note: one can easily substitute used, rare or collectible with "New."

Thanks to Teleread for the lead on the flow chart and to Gearfuse for the image above

Google's Typographic Salute to JFK

Here is the logo Google is using today in honor of the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address.

The logo is composed entirely of words used by JFK in his speech.

Pretty cool.

You can watch the speech here.

Everything Checked Out: Protesters Empty Library Shelves as Economy Continues to Fizzle

All 16,000 books from a library in the UK have been checked out in protest of a plan to shut the library for good.

When news broke of the plan to close the library residents who patronize the Stony Stratford library in Milton Keynes banded together, primarily using social media, and came up with a plan to pool their library cards an begin checking out the maximum amount of material.  At the rate of close to 400 items an hour books, DVD's and CD's began flying off the shelves until everything was gone.

Clever for sure and the story's reach can do nothing but reiterate the carnage that is taking place in the public library systems on both sides of the pond.

Clearly the economic collapse is still in motion and anything with the word "Public" in it these days is in dire straights. Schools, libraries (including university and state), historical museums and archives are all suffering. While the Federal government boasts of a stabilizing economy, cities, counties and states across the country are faced with devastating choices. Here in Washington state the latest budget cuts announced by the governor consisted of a “parade of horribles.”

Forget our public libraries and public schools even our public safety is at risk with police and fire departments also feeling the heat. In King County, the county where Seattle resides, 28 sheriff's deputies and 16 prosecutors were cut from the payroll. And it has nothing to do with having less crime.

When I read about the Stony Stratford library protest one of my first thoughts, unfortunately, was that they might want to just lock the door now and let everyone keep the books they checked out. Then they wouldn't have to deal with getting rid of them (ie: incur the extra expense) when the time comes to close.

These are dangerous times. A full recovery is a long way away; it is quite possible that we will not see pre-crash funding for our public and school libraries in my lifetime.

So what are we going to do?

The time is ripe for communities to start working together to come up with new ways to ensure that the book and literacy needs of its residents are met. True public/private partnerships (that do not include outsourcing) are required. We must think outside the television, oops, I mean box, and everything should be on the table.

As these photos attest we've already begun the drift toward illiteracy and we can hardly afford to go much further.

In the Stacks: Columbia University, From Homer to Howl

This installment of In the Stacks takes us to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University.

From Homer:

Fragment from Homer's Odysseyis dating from between the third century to the second century BCE. One 2000 papyrus fragments housed at Columbia.

Original contract between Herman Melville and Harper & Brothers for "The Whale," or better known as Moby Dick. Columbia acquired the archive of the publisher in 1975.

Alexander Anderson.  Wood engraving of garden-house scene,  (6.5 x 8 cm.) Anderson has been considered the father of wood engraving in America. 

Arthur Rackham.  Self-portrait, 1924.  The Rackham collection at Columbia contains 413 drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings, as well as 30 sketch books, and some 400 printed books and ephemera

Prospectus for the Grove Press edition of Naked Lunch. Part of the online exhibit Naked Lunch at 50.

To Howl:

 Typescript of Howl which Ginsberg enclosed in a letter to Lucien Carr, in which he called attention to the "new style, long lines, strophes." Ginsberg graduated in 1948 from Columbia.


For more collection hi-spots see the exhibition celebrating Columbia's 250th anniversary; Jewels in Her Crown: Treasures from the Special Collections of Columbia's Libraries

Previously on In the Stacks:

Private Libraries at the Museum of the City of New York

Los Angeles Public Library

Boston Public Library

Used books deemed unsanitary by the Turkish government

Image via LOC

Responding to complaints by parents the Turkish government has pulled all used books from their Free Class Books Project.

From Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu:

The course books distributed within the scope of the Free Class Books Project cannot be used, as the schools lack the infrastructure to control and protect the books. As the parents do not find the used books hygienic, giving a group of students new books and others used books does not serve our educational needs

This is one wacky story and I have to wonder if something got lost in the translation.  If indeed used books are unsanitary and need to be controlled and protected where does that leave the public library? I can also see the light bulbs going on at Amazon - we can solve this problem by giving them all Kindles!

Stories like this reiterate the challenge that still exists, here in this country and apparently around the world, in making non-new books a legitimate option. For whatever reason, for many, used is still not an option when considering a book  purchase.  This dilemma has improved somewhat since the advent of the online book marketplaces but by no means has "used" attained equal footing with new. Perhaps if we called them recycled books...

Story at Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Penny-seller rakes in millions: Thrift Recycling gets hefty investment

ERRATA: The original post mistakenly referred to Thrift Recycling Management as the parent company for Thrift Books. I have been informed that Thrift Books and Thrift Recycling Management are two separate and distinct companies. My apologies to the folks at Thrift Books for the error. The funding was secured by Thrift Recycling Management and the original story has been amended.
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Thrift Recycling Management has announced that it has secured an $8.5 million investment led by venture capital firm QuestMark Partners. According to the press release "The funds will accelerate growth and help position TRM to be the dominant player in the recycled consumer goods space."

They currently sell books on Amazon under the names Hippobooks and Owlsbooks and have a retail site called Reader's Outlet. They are also the proud owners of many of those dubious book donation boxes that have sprouted up in communities across this country.

While much of the banner waving for these companies is done under the "green" umbrella; here used books have become "recycled consumer goods" and we are fed seemingly endless data on how many millions of books are recycled and saved from landfills, and how many books were donated to improve literacy around the world etc, the business reality is much different.

Now I am sure companies like Thrift Recycling do some good in the world but there is not much here on saving the planet, improving literacy and helping our communities. And it is clear that their predatory pricing model has wrecked havoc on traditional booksellers. Many have been forced to close their doors which in turn leaves their communities with one less book destination.

In their last fiscal year Thrift Recycling reported $27 million in revenue. How much of that was from shipping charges? 10%? $25%? 50%? And what is the true energy cost of shipping hundreds of thousands of orders a year? They are not delivered via bicycles.


Previously on Book Patrol:
Better or Not? Better World Books adds Donation Boxes, A Book Drive for Haiti and a Partnership with Powell's to the Mix
Alibris Jumps in Bed with Better World Books and Takes Their Booksellers With Them
Better World Books : Are They Better for the Book World? 

 Thanks to TechFlash for the lead

Can I Help You?

"Bookstore" by Jon Christopher Hughes

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This eerily cool photograph appeared on the cover of the 1996 Spring/Summer issue of the Cincinnati Poetry Review.

In the Stacks: Private Libraries at the Museum of the City of New York

For the third installment of In the Stacks we visit the Museum of the City of New York which recently released 50,000 digital images from their outstanding collection.

What is becoming increasingly clear in the early stages of this new series is that the plethora of material available at many of these digital destinations warrant more than one trip. Rather than overcrowd the initial posts Book Patrol will return, in due time, to select archives to bring you more book goodness.

So, here on the the first visit to the Museum of the City of New York, we focus on the private library. All the photos were taken by the Byron Company photography studio. The MCNY holds 22,000 photos from the firm taken between 1890 and 1942.

Enjoy!

 Harvard Club, ca. 1905

Thomas Edison, 1904

Interior of Thomas Edison's home, 1907

 Martha Morton in her home, 1902

 David Belasco's library, 1909

 Hotel Biltmore Library, 1913

 Library of the banking firm Fisk and Robinson, 1902

Residence of John A. Dunbar, 1931

Previously on Book Patrol:

In the Stacks: Los Angeles Public Library

In The Stacks: Boston Public Library