Political Page Turners Tell All

New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt has a Mueller-oriented project in the works.  Schmidt has blown the lid off some of the most consequential stories about the Russia investigation, and he now has a deal with Random House—brokered by Gail Ross of the Ross Yoon Agency. James Stewart is writing a book about the relationship between the White House, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department. Stewart, whose longtime agent is Amanda Urban at I.C.M., is working with Ann Godoff at Penguin on the as-yet-untitled work, which he said is tentatively slated for a fall 2019 release. It appears that the big political books of the Trump era have been minting big bucks. Jeremy Peters’s Insurgency: The Inside Story of the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party, sold at auction in the high six figures. Earlier this year, Michael Wolff saw nearly 2 million copies of Fire and Fury fly off shelves in a matter of three weeks.

Students Outrage Over 999$ Text Book

A student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, signed up for an introductory accounting course, and noticed that the online textbook for the course was listed at $999.

She took to Facebook and posted a screenshot on the “UL Ragin Cajuns Book Swap” group.

“Can anyone explain why the WileyPlus online code for ACCT 202 is $1000?” she asked.

Fellow students took to Twitter to voice their outrage, and soon after students and observers were accusing UL-Lafayette of scamming students.The textbook, Financial and Managerial Accounting, 3rd Edition, was customized by publisher Wiley for the Accounting 201 and 202 courses at UL-Lafayette and is a new addition to the courses this academic year. The $999 pricing was not a glitch.

Though the university and publisher argue that the $999 price was just a “placeholder” that no one would actually pay, the incident has caused uncertainty and anger among students who are just trying to purchase the correct items at the best price. The textbook marketplace can already be incredibly confusing due to its plethora of vendors, subtly different textbook editions, disliked single-use access codes and disparate rental programs.

While the online-only version of the textbook was priced at $999 in the Wiley marketplace, a bundled print and online textbook was available for $253.25 from the college bookstore. Both options include an access code for the WileyPlus online teaching and learning platform.

The university knew that the online book is usually cheaper than the hard copy. UL knew that most students would buy the online copy and just print it out so that we wouldn’t have to spend crazy money on a book from their bookstore. So they made the online version a ridiculous amount so that us students had no other option.”

Gmail’s New Feature Smart Compose

  Gmail has a new feature called Smart Compose. This feature allows for artificial intelligence to auto-fill information in the emails you compose in an effort to cut down on the time spent typing up mindless messages. If typing emails is truly one of the bane’s of your day-to-day existence, this feature is here to alleviate that stress. 

SUBJECT: Write emails faster with Smart Compose in Gmail

The Aesthetics of Russian Libraries Is Causing Their Visitors To Dwindle

Nuneaton Library

 Councillor Pete Gilbert, Conservative county councillor for Bedworth West, says libraries that look like car parks are not helping halt the slump in visitor numbers across Warwickshire.  He continues to say” the biggest damage that we’ve caused ourselves is the knocking or pulling down of beautiful buildings that lived and breathed books and building these Soviet-looking flat roofed things that don’t inspire anybody.”

On the other hand in contrast to that, the county was among the best when it came to digital visits with eBook and eAudio downloads at an all-time high. 

Google’s New Added Feature: Searching For eBooks At Your Local Library

Google has rolled out a new feature in Search that allows users to check if an e-book is available to borrow from the local library. When searching for a book, the “Get Book” tab shows a “Borrow ebook” section, which lists public library systems nearby with a link to open the webpage and borrow. If you search for the title of a book, you’ll see one of two things. On desktop search, there’s an additional heading in the detailed results/information card on the right. But on mobile, it’s buried in the Get Book tab. There is some inconsistency with this feature.

Better off visiting your local library’s website not only for ebooks but for print  and the library programs they have to offer.

Apple To Begin Paying Out $400M To Customers

 

Three years ago, Apple was found guilty of anticompetitive ebook pricing and price-fixing. The case was in limbo for years as Apple appealed and tried to fight the ruling, but earlier this year the Supreme Court declined to hear the company’s appeal, putting Apple on the hook for $450 million. 

According to the firm, $400 million will be handed out to customers who purchased books from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Apple. 

Customers will receive $6.93 for every e-book that was a New York Times bestseller and $1.57 for every other ebook. Qualifying ebooks must have been purchased between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012 and be from one of the following publishers: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan (Holtzbrinck Publishers), Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster.

Libraries To Visit With Street View

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Literary Rejections That Became Popular

http://www.litrejections.com/best-sellers-initially-rejected/

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http://americanwritersmuseum.org/

Books That Are Really Long To Read & Hard To Put Down

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

A thousand pages to describe Scarlett’s three husbands and her struggles during the war.

Margaret Mitchell at the Gone With The Wind movie premiere party in Atlanta. © Bettmann/CORBIS, 1939

Boredom caused 25-year-old Margaret Mitchell to write 63 of the chapters. Mitchell was a journalist for the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine. spending 10 years of her life working on the book, Mitchell didn’t really have much intention of publishing it. When a “friend” heard that she was considering writing a book (though in fact, it had been written), she said something to the effect of, “Imagine, you writing a book!” Annoyed, Mitchell took her massive manuscript to a Macmillan editor the next day. She later regretted the act and sent the editor a telegram saying, “Have changed my mind. Send manuscript back.”

Ralph Thompson, a book reviewer for The New York Times, was quite unimpressed with the book at first, saying “I happen to feel that the book would have been infinitely better had it been edited down to, say, 500 pages-”

At the end, Thompson admitted, “Any kind of first novel of over 1,000 pages is an achievement and for the research that was involved, and for the writing Itself, the author of Gone With the Wind deserves due recognition.”

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

After reading 200 pages of Infinite Jest, Michael Pietsch, Wallace’s editor at Little, Brown,told Wallace’s agent, “I want to do this book more than I want to breathe.”

Pietsch responded to the original 1,600-page manuscript of Infinite Jest with a letter to Wallace saying, “It’s exactly the challenge and adventure I came to book publishing to find.” He also suggested that Wallace make extensive cuts to the book, adding, “I’m still hoping there are ways to make the novel much shorter, not because any one piece of it isn’t wonderful but because the longer it is the more people will find excuses not to read it. On the attached pages I’ve suggested chapters and scenes that maybe can come out without killing the patient.” On Pietsch’s letter, Wallace circled that section and simply put a question mark by it.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Five Volumes —--Read On

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

 Originally published as Voyna i mir in 1865-69. War and Peace is about early 19th-century Russian society, noted for its mastery of realistic detail and variety of psychological analysis, and generally regarded as one of the world’s greatest novels. War and Peace is primarily concerned with the histories of five aristocratic families–particularly the Bezukhovs, the Bolkonskys, and the Rostovs–the members of which are portrayed against a vivid background of Russian social life during the war against Napoleon (1805-14).       Read On 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

East of Eden, often considered Steinbeck’s most ambitious novel, follows the intricate lives of two families, the Hamiltons, based on Steinbeck’s maternal ancestors, and the Trasks as they settle in California.

original_East_of_Eden_Infographic

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

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The seed of the Rebecca story lay in Daphne du Maurier’s jealousy of her husband’s first fiancee Photo: REX

Libraries & Museums Becoming More Trendy With -The Internet Of Things

Several months ago the Orlando Public library implemented BluuBeam, an Orlando-based service that uses iBeacon technology to send location-triggered information to patrons. Visitors who download the app get an alert about library offers and events. For example, if you’re searching the third floor stacks for a Julia Child cookbook, you’ll receive a message about the library’s Cuisine Corner program that features cooking demos by local chefs.

Last year, Apple launched iBeacon and companies have used iBeacons to sell everything from currency exchange at airports to designer handbags at Macy’s. Some startups are using the technology to help libraries and museums innovate. BluuBeam and Capira Technologies, a New York company that also provides location-based services, are helping libraries develop better experiences for their patrons. Boston-based startup Spotzer has used the technology in museums to reinvent the way people interact with art.

This particular technology really ties together what makes libraries and museums so valuable to the world. They’re an indelible, invaluable physical venue for knowledge. As technology has advanced, it’s changed why people visit libraries and museums. In the wake of the Great Recession, just as many people used libraries for free computer and Internet access as they did to borrow books. Experts at these companies say beacon technology could help these libraries and museums remind people of their importance in the community and showcase the wide range of services and resources they offer. But first, they must convince patrons to download an app that tracks their location.

Spotzer, which launched in early 2014, has worked with the Neue Galerie in New York and the Boston Atheneaum, one of the oldest independent libraries and cultural institutions in the country. After a museum visitor downloads the app, it pulls up information as the person walks up to work of art. It also can learn the person’s preferences to serve a more personalized experience as he or she walks toward another collection. Spotzer can add a new layer of proximity and contextual awareness to their physical space.

Chris Zabaleta, who founded BluuBeam in 2014, says he wanted to build a tool that helped people better engage with libraries. He has signed up 30 libraries for the service, including the Fayetteville Free Library in upstate New York and another in Topeka, Kansas.

BluuBeam’s technology includes beams—lightweight, hockey puck-sized iBeacons—that libraries strategically place in different locations. The Orange County Public Library System has 25 beams throughout three branches. Zabaleta says 30 libraries are using the technology to enhance their current offerings. One library used a beam to trigger an alert of new movie releases for that day. Others have advertised free computer workshops and book sales. The service is completely anonymous and doesn’t collect users’ personal information, though BluuBeam does track how many times a beacon has pushed a message.

Other companies, however, have taken a more personalized approach. Capira Technologies just began a pilot program in early December with two of its 100 library clients. It sends users reminders about overdue books and items available for pick-up as soon as they enter a participating library. Michael Berse, a managing member for Capira Technologies, says the service allows libraries with limited staff resources to provide more customer service.

Another company is considering partnering with nearby businesses, such as restaurants and train stations, so that patrons can get special messages and incentives inside and outside of the library.

Capira Technologies, Spotzer and BluuBeam use varied pricing models—all charging the cultural institutions, not their visitors.

Moss, of the Orange County Public Library System, says some of her staff initially were skeptical about the technology’s potential, but now are enthusiastically experimenting. The library plans to  run a promotion this month to get more people to download the app.

 

 

Ereaders vs The Printed Book At Bedtime

Anne-Marie Chang, associate professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State University, and her colleagues found that when comparing digital readers with the printed word people who use the electronic devices such as an iPad had more disrupted sleep patterns and were more tired the next morning than those who read from traditional books.

Chang, who conducted the study while at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, designed the trial to be as objective as possible. Chang found a marked difference between each participant’s sleep patterns and alertness depending on whether they read from a digital reader or from a book. When they read from an iPad, their evening levels of melatonin failed to drop as much as they should, while they remained at expected levels when they read from a book. That led to a delay in body’s biological signal to go so sleep of about an hour and a half, making the participants more alert and therefore not ready for bed.

And when the scientists looked at their sleep patterns, they found that the differences went even deeper. When the volunteers read from electronic devices, they had shorter REM sleep, the stage in which memories are consolidated and the brain refreshes itself, than when they read from printed books. This occurred even though the volunteers slept for the same amount of time, eight hours, every night.

Moreover,  the effect of those differences in sleep patterns spilled over into the next morning. When they read from digital readers, the participants reported feeling sleepier and were less alert (as measured on standardized testing of alertness) than when they used books. Chang was surprised to see the effects the next day. There was no difference in total sleep duration between the two conditions, but there was a significant amount of REM sleep difference.

Previous studies have indicated that the reason for the disrupted sleep linked to the electronic devices may be due to the type of light they use. It’s in the blue wavelength, and some researchers have connected this light to a disruptions in the melatonin system, similar to those Chang found in the study. The findings hint at why sleep — getting enough, and getting good quality sleep — is becoming more a of challenge and potentially a growing health problem.

Researchers suggest putting tablet down hours before bedtime or read a printed book.

Poppin And Joking At The Library

Check Out The Videos

Libraries-The Report

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Additional Reading 

New Adult Genre -Makings its Way In The Publishing Scene

A new and growing genre of literature aimes at primarily female readers between 18 and 25. AKA “new adult,” the genre features mainly university or college-aged protagonists dealing with early twenties life, in particular romance and intimate relationships. New adult successes such as E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey and Colleen Hoover’s Slammed, reportedly earned $95-million (U.S.) between mid-2012 and mid-2013. Several authors, such as Ms. Hoover and new adult romance author Bella Andre, have also managed to negotiate with larger publishing houses for print-only deals while keeping e-book selling rights – a rare luxury that happens only when authors hold some clout. New adult or NA was born out of a casual mention in a call for manuscripts sent out by New York-based publishing giant St. Martin’s Press in 2009. But the throwaway term caught the attention of the online book community and, finally last year, received its own Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) code, which assigns genres to books so that booksellers can more easily place them in sections. Ms. Tucker, who was signed to New York-based Simon & Schuster’s imprint Atria Books shortly after Ten Tiny Breaths came out, said the industry now sees her and others as hybrid authors, those who have some titles signed to big-name publishers, but who also release their own e-books on the side.

Urban Fiction could also fall into the new Adult Category

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorenson

Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines

The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski

Some Collect Coins , Some Collect Stamps This dudes Collects Library Cards

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Lexis Nexis Now Offering A New Online News & Information Resource

 

LexisNexisLegal & Professional, has  launched a new online news & information resource offering access to materials and tools on legal eBooks, digital library technology and print titles.

Called LexisNexis® Legal Content Insider, this new resource was unveiled at the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The site provides legal professionals up-to-date  information on legal publications. Built on the LexisNexis® LexTalk platform, the site also is connected to a network of community forums where legal professionals such as law librarians can connect with one another on issues of the day. This site features legal eBooks & print titles as well as influential blogs, and legal news feeds from Law360® and LexisNexis® Mealey’s®, as well as connection to the full LexTalk network of forums for legal professionals.
The sites goal & strategy is to offer innovative technologies to legal professional and help them better use legal publications, by providing resources to assist them in managing their collections.

Libraries Lending WiFi Hotspots

 

 

The digital divide widens when you look at race, age, income and especially education level. Only 37 percent of non-high school graduates have broadband, compared to 57 percent of high school graduates, 78 percent of those with “some college” and 89 percent of those with a higher degree.

Out of 148 countries, the United States ranked 35th for Internet bandwidth capacity. Broadband Internet in the United States is, on average, slower but still more expensive than in other countries. Riga, the capital of Latvia, has an average Internet speed two-and-a-half times faster than the one in San Antonio, TX, and yet their service is only a quarter of the cost.  Two plans to begin lending portable WiFi hotspots to underserved communities were among the winning projects of the Knight News Challenge to strengthen the Internet for free expression and innovation. Although the Chicago Public Library and New York Public Library initiatives are unique, however their goal to expand internet access and promote digital literacy are the same. Since the target demographic for these projects are underserved, often poor communities, the libraries will have to be careful to not infringe on users’ privacy or digital freedoms in order to demonstrate the success of the projects.  New York Public Library and Chicago Public Library  want to see users from underserved communities become more comfortable using digital technology. Their longterm goal is to see an increase in broadband adoption rates in the communities they serve and to begin eliminating the countrywide digital divide

The digital divide in New York City is even higher than the national average, Currently, anyone with a library card can use a desktop or laptop computer at one of the 92 branches for up to 45 minutes. The NYPL website suggests making an advance reservation up to one day in advance (through, of course, an online reservation system). The Chicago Public Library,  provide a third of the free computer and Internet access in the city, and the largest provider. Anyone with a library card (or an ID proving they don’t live in Chicago) can get on a computer for up to two hour-long sessions per day, 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. (They also have an online reservation system, although the website states computers can be reserved in person as well.)

The proposed plan in Chicago would provide members of underserved communities in three locations access to both portable WiFi and laptop computers for up to three weeks. During the course of the two year pilot, 300 – 500 WiFi hotspots would be made available in several library locations in areas with less than 50 percent broadband adoption rates. In both New York and Chicago, the hotspot lending program will be accompanied by digital literacy and Internet safety classes.

The pilot programs will be judged based on exit interviews conducted with participants. The libraries want to ensure that borrowers become increasingly comfortable with digital technology and if home Internet access changes their attitudes towards technology. They will also probe whether borrowers are aware of or interested in free or low cost broadband Internet programs.

Chicago Public Library will also collect and analyze circulation data to understand demand and use. The NYPL plans they to look at the broad categories of Internet use such as social media, education, entertainment, commerce, search and utility. NYPL is in talks with other New York City library systems (Brooklyn & Queens) as well as Maine and Kansas (rural areas)

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Books That Were Made Into Movies

 

 

 

Image Credit: Warner Bros.

All You Need is Kill
by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

EDGE OF TOMORROW
A soldier who dies during an alien war relives his final day in battle over and over until he can figure out how to escape the time loop.
Based On: All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
Release Date: 6 June 2014
Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton  Playing…  

Gone Girl

by Gillian Flynn

 Gillian Flynn’s third novel, and to call it thrilling would be a massive understatement. The story digs deep into the psychology behind long-term relationships, exploring the difficulties within a failing marriage and a wife’s disappearance. Fingers crossed that Ben Affleck’s performance as a husband suspected of murder follows in the footsteps of Argo and The Town rather than Gigli.

 

Divergent

by Veronica Roth

 Shailene Woodley perfectly captures Tris’ vulnerability and strength. For those of you who haven’t read the novel, Divergent is set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago where society has been divided into five factions, all of which focus on a particular value such as honesty, intelligence or bravery.

 

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

The Giver is about a 12-year-old boy who is chosen to inherit the human experiences — such as pain and love — that his society has given up in exchange for widespread harmony. With a cast that includes Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image Credit: Paramount

Hercules: The Thracian Wars
by Steve Moore

HERCULES
In a futuristic society where people have given up individuality and choice in order to protect themselves from pain and emotion, a young boy is selected to inherit The Giver’s memories of what living really feels like.
Based On: Hercules: The Thracian Wars by Steve Moore
Release Date: 25 July 2014
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Rufus Sewell, John Hurt, Ian McShane
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Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

The Maze Runner
by James Dashner

THE MAZE RUNNER
A group of teenage boys trapped in a seemingly inescapable maze full of horrific creatures is surprised by the arrival of a girl.
Based On: The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Release Date: 19 September 2014
Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario
0 points

 

Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

Addicted
by Zane

ADDICTED
A woman must decide if pleasure is worth more than her family life and career.
Based On: Addicted: A Novel by Zane
Release Date: 5 September 2014
Starring: Sharon Leal, Boris Kodjoe, Tyson Beckford, Tasha Smith
0 points

 

Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

Animal Rescue
by Dennis Lehane

THE DROP
After a botched robbery, a man finds himself entangled in the investigation of a Boston neighborhood.
Based On: Animal Rescue by Dennis Lehane, from the short story collectionBoston Noir
Release Date: 19 September 2014
Starring: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini

Image Credit: 20th Century Fox

Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn

GONE GIRL
Cops investigate the mysterious disappearance of a beautiful woman who went missing on the day of her fifth wedding anniversary.
Based On: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Release Date: 3 October 2014
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Missi Pyle, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris

Image Credit: Universal

Kill the Messenger
by Nick Schou

KILL THE MESSENGER
The true story of a journalist pushed to the breaking point after he exposes a cocaine conspiracy within the CIA.
Based On: Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb by Nick Schou
Release Date: 10 October 2014
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Michael Sheen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
0 points

Image Credit: Lionsgate

Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1
Katniss Everdeen, having successfully escaped the Hunger Games arena yet again, reluctantly becomes the symbol of Panem’s rebellion against the Capitol.
Based On: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Release Date: 21 November 2014
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks
0 points

 

 

The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien

THE HOBBIT: THERE AND BACK AGAIN
The final installment of director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy, starring Bilbo Baggins and a rough-and-tumble team of dwarves.
Based On: The Hobbit; or, There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
Release Date: 17 December 2014
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom
0 points

 

Inherent Vice
by Thomas Pynchon

INHERENT VICE
A 1960s Los Angeles detective investigates the disappearance of a former flame.
Based On: Inherent Vice: A Novel by Thomas Pynchon
Release Date: 12 December 2014
Starring: Jena Malone, Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Josh Brolin

 

Library of The Year

Edmonton Public Library (EPL) of Alberta, Canada has been chosen, the 2014 Library of the Year by Library Journal magazine and Gale, part of Cengage Learning. Each year, this prestigious recognition goes to a public library that most profoundly demonstrates service to community, creativity, leadership and innovation in developing community programs. EPL serves one of Canada’s fastest growing cities through its 17 branches operated by more than 600 employees who last year answered nearly 2.5 million questions and facilitated 5.2 million library visits (with another 4.7 million visits via their website). Every three seconds someone is borrowing from EPL. Their social media popularity – with 20,000 Twitter followers and 9,000 Facebook fans – leads almost all North American urban libraries.

 EPL lacks the stereotypical image of library as a book repository and serves as a center of civic engagement. Community librarians at each branch integrate deeply with local institutions such as school districts, health centers and outreach groups in order to understand needs, eliminate barriers, and inform services and policies. their  makerspace – is a location dedicated to creating with technology such as 3D printers, game development software, a sound and recording studio and more. New branches have been designed or redesigned to focus on open space, collaboration, and sustainability, and a focus on lifelong learning, including online learning, helps ensure the success of individuals as well as the community.

 Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, technology and services company, that empowers educators and driving learner engagement through personalized services and course-driven digital solutions that bridge from the library to the classroom. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world’s information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet.

Library Journal  was founded in 1876, Library Journal is one of the oldest and most respected publications covering the library field. Over 75,000 library directors, administrators, and staff in public, academic, and special libraries read LJ. Library Journal reviews over 8000 books, audiobooks, videos, databases, and web sites annually, and provides coverage of technology, management, policy, and other professional concerns.

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American Libraries Vintage Posters

Take A Look At The American Library Association Archives Poster Collection@ The University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign. The vintage collection  includes printed posters, rotogravures and architectural drawings of ALA divisions, committees, projects and events. Subjects include the work of the ALA during World War I and II, the 50th Anniversary of the ALA in 1926, the Andrew Carnegie Centenary in 1935, librarianship recruitment, and general library and readership promotion.

 

American Libraries

A recent report by the Pew Research Center revealed that Americans still value their libraries. When asked whether the closing of their local public library would have an impact on their communities, 90 percent of American adults (ages 16 years and older) said yes, it would, and 63 percent said the impact would be “major.” When asked if library closures would affect them and their families personally, only 32 percent responded the way I would have—with a “no.” The survey also reported that the most important things a public library offers, besides books and media, are safe, quiet places to read and assistance from librarians

Authors Hating On Other Authors

Just Move Your Mouse Over The Arrows -Authors hating on Authors back in the day

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Digital Public Library Of America

The Digital Public Library of America (http://dp.la),is one year old this week. In celebration, DPLA is proud to announce the addition of six major new partners and other significant milestones as it enters its second year.

The New York Public Library (NYPL) this week expanded access to the full breadth of its digital collections through its partnership with DPLA, a major increase over its initial contribution of 14,000 records at DPLA’s launch. Over 1 million digitized items from throughout the Library’s research holdings are available, significantly increasing DPLA’s offerings by nearly 20%.

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http://dp.la/

Beautiful Libraries That Still House Books

1. Trinity College Library, Ireland

 

 Balme Library, Ghana

 EPM Library, Colombia

Images courtesy of Guia de Viajes Oficial de Medellin’s and Biblioteca EPM’s Flickr streams.

s.

26. Villanueva Public Library, Colombia

Images courtesy of Nicolas Cabrera via Dezeen.

 

27. Central Library of Vancouver, Canada

Images courtesy of Evan Leeson’s and David J. Laporte’s Flickr stream.

Many modern building designs are based on historical icons, but few of these designs focus on the ruins rather than the original. The Central Library of Vancouver is an exception. Based on the Roman Coliseum, this massive building takes up one full city block and features not only a library with 1.3 million reference materials, but also retail shops, restaurants, a parking structure, office buildings and a rooftop garden.

28. Library of Parliament, Canada

images courtesy of Wikipedia users Wladyslaw and Alejandro Erickson

Hearst Castle Gothic Study, USA

Skywalker Ranch Library, USA

Image courtesy of Michael Heilemann’s 

he Tianyi Pavilion Library, China

Images courtesy of What’s On Ningbo.

Victorian State Library, Australia

 

 

Images courtesy of Wikipedia users Bjenks and Diliff

 

56. The State Library of New South Wales, Australia

Image courtesy of Flickr user Christophe

57. The State Library of South Australia

Images courtesy of Flickr users OZinOH and gracias!

 

58. Victorian Parliamentary Library, Australia

Images courtesy of Flickr user Sally Cummings

Beitou Library, Taiwan

 

 

 

Book Selling World Thats Rapid Changing

Nearly three years ago, Liberty Media wanted to acquire Barnes & Noble. Now it appears that the media conglomerate has had enough and will sell most of its shares  in Barnes & Noble. In the meantime ,the number of businesses trying to muscle in on Barnes & Noble’s traditional territory, trying to reshape the relationship between book publishers, retailers and readers, is growing constantly.

Today a new breed of start-ups wants to turn book buyers into book consumers. Once, the two were analogous — unless,  trekked back and forth to your local public library to borrow books. Unlike movies, where rentals of VHS tapes and, later, of DVDs, had become standard by the 1980s, “renting” books never caught on as a business model. So while consumers have long gravitated to, say, Netflex as an alternative to a bricks and mortar Blockbuster store, the ability to send digitizedbooks to an e-book reader hasn’t been followed as rapidly by a “rental book” model.

Three companies are battling for readers and market share: Entitle Books, Scribd, and Oyster. you pay a flat fee and you can then download books from their library.

 

“It’s all about bringing in a new audience of readers, by bringing content to them on the devices they use,” he explains. Putting an array of 100,000 or so books at the fingertips of Oyster users on their Apple  iPads or iPhones and enabling them to sample at will — as many books as they choose at a flat fee of $9.95 a month — means that in aggregate these Oyster subscribers end up paying more than they would have otherwise to read books, and funneling more than they would have otherwise to the bottom lines of publishing companies. There are reasons to doubt that we’ll ever really have a “Netflix for books.” First, for most casual readers, the value of a monthly e-book subscription for $8.95 or $9.95 is less obvious than Netflix’s $7.99 rate for unlimited streaming. Also, we consume books differently than we do music or television or movies. That doesn’t mean that we don’t consume them digitally — simply that as readers, we seem to value retaining all kinds of different options.

Sales of e-books topped those in print” for the first time two years ago. They are still buying books, not just viewing them as downloads. And some of us are still mixing and matching: buying some from bookstores as hardcovers or paperbacks, selectively borrowing from libraries, choosing which books to add to e-readers and scrutinizing these new services to decide which might best fit our needs. It’s not a one-size-fits-all world — yet.

 

 

Library Of Congress Announced 25 New Entries Chosen For Preservation

 

Recordings by, Isaac Hayes, the Everly Brothers,U2, Linda Ronstadt, Jeff Buckley, Lyndon B. Johnson and the original Broadway cast of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street are among those newly selected for induction into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

Librarian of the Library of Congress says “As technology continually changes and formats become obsolete, we must ensure that our nation’s aural legacy is protected”. This years selections include everything from classic singles such as Brother, Can You Spare A Dime (recorded in 1932 by both Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee, separately) to later pop hits such as the Everlys’ Cathy’s Clown (1960), Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son (1969), and the late Buckley’s 1994 cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Among the albums chosen are Hayes’ Shaft (1971), Ronstadt’s Heart Like a Wheel (1974) and U2’s blockbuster The Joshua Tree (1987), presidential recordings of Lyndon B. Johnson (nearly 850 hours, recorded from 1963-1969), Lawrence Ritter’s interviews with baseball pioneers (1962-1966) and The First Family, a collection of comedy skits from 1962. New recordings also include  Art Blakey’s 1954 albums A Night at Birdland (Vols. 1 and 2) and Aaron Copland’s Copland Conducts Copland: Appalachian Spring (1974).

April 13-19 is National library Week

Public Libraries That have Become Bookless

TheTexas south central city’s digital library, known as the BiblioTech allows the Bexar County readers to check out up to five books at a time on their devices from home or wherever they are. Military personnel can even download the latest bestseller from Afghanistan.

Locals can check out tablets or e-readers for free. Or they can use the library’s 48 iMAC desktop computers. Children can take home any of the 200 Nook readers pre-loaded with 150 books aimed at their age group.

Opened six months ago, BiblioTech is the nation’s first totally book-free public library. It just added a satellite branch in the jury room of the Bexar County Courthouse. The name plays off the word “biblioteca”: Spanish for library.

In Washington, the downtown Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library cleared the stacks in one wing last June to open a vast, bookless “Digital Commons” _ part computer lab, part design center and part reading lounge.

The bound book doesn‘t look like it’s going away anytime soon. But the digital age, which has crept into libraries through new technology, is slowly taking over.

A number of ambitious national and international digital efforts are underway, focused on making cultural heritage books, manuscripts and books available online. The Digital Public Library of America and a Library of Congress-supported World Digital Library, which just reached 10,000 entries this past week, are making literary treasures, such as an early 16th-century Gospel manuscript from Ethiopia, more accessible. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington says “he is gratified to see that it continues to grow.”

At the MLK library, there’s a giant touch screen used for teaching classes and a 3D printer created a small basket. There’s also a new book printer machine that will print and bind a book, small work spaces for people who need places for start-ups, a sound studio and a touch screen table in the children’s section for reading and playing. There are express computers that visitors can use for 15 minutes, no library card needed.

At North Carolina State University’s new James B. Hunt Jr. Library in Raleigh, the 1.5 million books are stored underground, leaving lots of space for research and study groups. Virtual stacks enable students to check out books from a unique robotic retrieval system known as a bookBot that delivers them in five minutes or less.

 Surprisingly, people still purchase books in print but dont read them.  Nelson Wolff, aka the San Antoinio county judge is a collector of first edition 20th- century books and has more than 1,500. He buys hardcover books but does not read them.

The BiblioTech attracts a steady flow of foreign and national visitors. Several San Antonio library officials are traveling to the Netherlands and England in a few weeks at the invitation of foreign officials to make presentations about their operation. He is pleased that the local, majority Latino community has access to reading materials and the Internet. There is 100 percent return rate and no late fees with the digital books. The eBooks just simply disappear off the mobile device after two weeks.

In downtown D.C., where the MLK library’s computers are the only access to the Internet for many, users come from all economic levels. Teens and preteens enjoy the digital options, including gaming.

Austin Texas To Host SXSW Interactive Festival-Assange/Snowden Virtual Live

 

This year, NSA leaker Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks founder and secret spiller Julian Assange will hold a live video conference March 8, 2014 11:00 a.m.  Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Anne Wojcicki, CEO of genetics testing company 23andMe.

Snowden and Assange will be appearing appear on live video since both are living as fugitives, in Moscow and the Ecuadorian embassy in London. 

A Virtual Conversation With Julian Assange video conference -March 8, 2014 11:00 a.m. Texas time

A Virtual Conversation With Edward Snowden  video conference-March 10,2014 11:00 a.m. Texas time

The South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals offers original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW is the premier destination for discovery of emerging trends.

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Technology Trends For 2014

 

Major companies are working on data encryption to detour NSA from snooping

Smartphones will be able to connect with our homes

No-Touch interfaces

3D printing

Wearable technology

Cloud services

 

Microsoft’s New Chief- Satya Nadella

 

Mr Nadella, who has been at Microsoft for 22 years, is now the new chief.  Bill Gates, Microsoft’s founder, has stepped aside as chairman. However, he will be doing more rather than less. At Mr Nadella’s request Mr Gates will become “technology adviser”. Mr Gates plans to  spend a third of his time at the firm. Recently he has devoted almost all his energy to the philanthropic foundation that bears the names of himself and his wife, Melinda. Like Mr Gates, Mr Ballmer will stay on the board.

Microsoft is still a reigning company with revenues of  $43 billion, 15% more than the year before. Its net income was $11.8 billion, up by 8.8%. It has a cash pile of $84 billion and a market capitalisation of $300 billion. However it has struggled to find its way in a world where the personal computer no longer reigns supreme. Mr Nadella’s job is to set a course through what he calls a “cloud-first, mobile-first world”. When it comes to mobile, Microsofts places third. Its operating system, Windows Phone, is far behind Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. 

Microsoft is expected to start selling its widely used Office suite of programs (which includes Word, a word-processor, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint slide shows) on iPads and Android tablets.

When you consider the tough challenges Bill & Melinda Gates takes on with their philanthropic foundation its quite amazing.

When You Just Cant Mind Your own Business

The biggest fool is one who minds the business of others rather than minding his very own

Popular Social Network Sites By Stats

Books Soon To Be Movies

The Giver by Lois Lowry

  Everything is perfect; diseases have been eradicated, everyone is equal, and society is under control. Each person is assigned a position by the Community, and 12-year-old Jonas has been picked as the “Receiver of Memories.” Only “The Giver” knows the truth of the past, and he must now pass that information down to Jonas. This book has often been described as the first YA dystopian novel (in correlation with the current trend) and it shows that a utopian society has its downsides, like a lack of personal freedom. Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep make this a highly anticipated movie, and there’s Taylor Swift.

 

 

 The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter

 Based on a true WWII story, museum curators, art historians, and others, collectively called the Monuments Men, risked their lives to save pieces of art that the Nazis planned to destroy. This book is a fascinating story about a rare WWII topic and shows how important it is to cherish artwork. As for the movie, the film features a kick-ass cast and it will be exciting to see everything unfold on the big screen.

 

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

What it’s about: In a dystopian Chicago, society is split into five factions based on personality type (Dauntless, Amity, Erudite, Abnegation, and Candor). When Tris Prior finds out she doesn’t quite fit into any one faction, she’s declared Divergent, a dangerous revelation she must keep secret in order to survive. Once the Choosing Ceremony begins, Tris must decide to either join her family or follow her own path. 

 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

  It’s Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary when Amy mysteriously disappears. Nick is oddly evasive and evidence is slowly going against him, but did he really kill his wife? Gillian Flynn’s novel is packed with suspense, twists, and plenty of emotions. 

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

This true story follows Louis Zamperini, a track star from the ’30s and a participant in the Berlin Olympics. Zamperini became an airman in WWII and in May of 1943, his plane went down, leaving him adrift in the Pacific Ocean with nothing but a raft. Facing starvation, dangerous waters, and a situation in which he is taken prisoner by Japanese forces. The film is directed by Angelina Jolie.

Serena by Ron Rash

 

 The book is a thrilling story about newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton on their journey to create a timber empire and ruthlessly kill all who fall out of favor. George fathered an illegitimate child, and when Serena discovers that she cannot bear children, she sets out to kill the son George fathered without her.

 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

What it’s about: Libby Day was 7 when her mother and two sisters were brutally murdered in an event known as “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She testified that the person responsible for the cruel acts was in fact her 15-year-old brother, Ben. Fast-forward about 25 years and Libby is approached by the Kill Club, a group of people obsessed with solving notorious crimes. They believe Ben was wrongly accused, and she is eventually sucked into the investigation to uncover the twisted truth. Christina Hendricks plays Charlize Theron’s mom.

 This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

Penguin Group

What it’s about: Judd Foxman’s father just died, and on top of that, his wife Jen had an affair with his boss, which recently became painfully public. Judd is forced to sit Shiva and spend seven days and nights with the dysfunctional Foxman clan, facing confrontation and dealing with old grudges. The book is hilarious and the movie features Jason Bateman and Tina Fey. 

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

 When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he remembers is his name. His memory is blank, and he’s surrounded by a group of boys in a place called the Glade, a large space entrapped by tall, stone walls. Every 30 days another boy is delivered, but when a girl named Teresa appears in the lift the next morning, her presence is almost as unexpected as the message she delivers. Once you catch on to the lingo, you’ll be racing to find out what happens. 

 The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais

Scribner

 What it’s about: When tragedy pushes Hassan and his family out of India, they eat their way around the world, settling in Lumière, a small town in the French Alps. The family opens an Indian restaurant that becomes wildly popular among the residents, infuriating their French rival Madame Mallory. After she wages a culinary war with the family, Mallory finally agrees to mentor Hassan, leading him to Paris and the launch of his own restaurant. Also produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.

A Presidential Library In Hawaii

 

 

There are two sites that supporters say could be the future home for the presidential library of Barack Obama. In Kakaako, just behind the parking lot for the Point Panic bodysurfing spot, the land is made up of two vacant lots, and offers a tantalizing view of Diamond Head and the ocean.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D), who has been a proponent of having a presidential center in Hawaii said “We think it’s a great opportunity for the president to launch his post-presidential career and he’s going to be a young ex-president.”

“We know he’s going to be in public service, and Honolulu would be a great headquarters for a presidential center.” 

While President Obama was born and raised in Hawaii, he made his political mark and his current home in Chicago, which is also in the running. “We’re prepared to compete with Chicago, but we’re also prepared to collaborate with Chicago,” said Schatz. 

“There are a lot of different parts of a presidential center: a foundation, a policy school, the museum. And any one of those, or all of those, could be located here,” said University of Hawaii Professor Robert Perkinson, who has been coordinating the effort to have a presidential center here.

The White House isn’t ready to speak on it just yet. President Obama’s term still has three more years to go. That’s still time for him to decide where to house his museum, or any foundation that he wishes to establish.

George W. Bush’s Presidential Library and Museum opened just last year in his home state of Texas. While President Obama was born and raised in Hawaii, he made his political mark and his current home in Chicago, which is also in the running.

“We’re prepared to compete with Chicago, but we’re also prepared to collaborate with Chicago,” said Schatz.

At least one former president, Bill Clinton, has a presidential library in his home state of Arkansas, but his non-profit foundation is headquartered in New York. That has raised the hopes that Honolulu will get at least one part of a proposed center.

“There are a lot of different parts of a presidential center: a foundation, a policy school, the museum. And any one of those, or all of those, could be located here,” said University of Hawaii Professor Robert Perkinson, who has been coordinating the effort to have a presidential center here.

Local Obama supporters say that he — much like Clinton — will remain active as a former president. They also say that his annual holidays in Hawaii show that he likes being here.

But not so fast — the White House isn’t ready to talk just yet. After all, Obama’s term still has three more years to go. That’s still time for him to decide where to house his museum, or any foundation that he wishes to establish.

“When he’s ready to seriously engage with those proposals, then we’re ready to meet with him and partner with him,” said Perkinson.

 

Tech Trend For 2014

The Internet

Cisco Systems predicts the connectivity of devices to the internet will be growing massively in 2014 and by 2015, reaching about twenty five billion devices and 99% of all “physical objects” will be connected to a network.

 Analytics and “Big Data”

There is now the opportunity to look at huge amounts of data in real time and use the data to understand the supply chain, logistics, customer behavior, patient outcomes and many other things in a way that wasn’t possible in the recent past.

Cloud Boxes versus Gadget Storage

Loads of enterprises are shifting from the traditional devices that store data (drives, servers, disks) to the “omnipresent” Cloud. This allows business, educational institutions and state agencies to be more mobile in doing their work and activities. Tech Gurus are predicting that the Cloud will actually be the most used storage device in 2014 replacing the decades long favorite – the Personal Computer

Apps

More people are bringing their own devices (BYOD) into the workplace and classrooms. Organizations are relying less on server controlled data and more on Apps that perform a specific function for the student or worker. 

 

Zora & Langston

Norton’s Amy Cherry bought the  North American rights to Yuval Taylor’s Zora and Langston  from William Clark, at William Clark Associates. The nonfiction work explores the friendship between Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes; Clark said it tracks their bond from their first meeting in New York City, through a road trip across the South, leading up to a bitter falling out. Taylor is a senior editor at Chicago Review Press and Cherry published his previous two books.

 

Irina’s Children

Gallery Books executive editor Karen Kosztolnyik won North American rights after a three-day auction, to Tilar Mazzeo’s nonfiction proposal, Irena’s Children. The nonfiction book is about a woman who has been dubbed the “female Oskar Schindler.” The proposal unwinds the life story of Irena Sendler, who, along with the force of fellow Polish citizens, went to extremes during World War II to save over 2,000 children from the Warsaw Ghetto. (Sendler kept the names of all the rescued kids in a jar, so that they might one day be reunited with their families.) The book, Gallery noted, also weaves together two “intertwined wartime love stories.” The proposal has been acquired in Italy and Norway, and, at press time, auctions were underway in the U.K. and the Netherlands. Mazzeo (The Widow Clicquot) was represented by agent Stacey Glick at Dystel & Goderich

 

National Book Awards 2013

 

WINNER:

James McBride, The Good Lord Bird (Riverhead Books/Penguin Group USA) – Interview >

FINALISTS:

FINALISTS:

Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers (Scribner/Simon & Schuster) – Interview >

Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House) – Interview >

Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge (The Penguin Press/Penguin Group USA)

George Saunders, Tenth of December (Random House) – Interview >

LONGLIST:

– Tom Drury, Pacific (Grove Press)
– Elizabeth Graver, The End of the Point (Harper/HarperCollinsPublishers)
– Anthony Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Hogarth/Random House)
– Alice McDermott, Someone (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
– Joan Silber, Fools (W.W. Norton & Company)

JUDGES:

Charles Baxter, Gish Jen, Charles McGrath, Rick Simonson, René Steinke

 

The Internet Hall Of Fame 2014

The Internet Society has established an annual global rotational schedule for The Internet Hall Of Fame . The Internet Society announced Asia Pacific as the region for the 2014 Internet Hall of Fame event. Latin America has been selected for 2015, followed by Africa in 2016, and North America in 2017. The Internet Hall of Fame is an annual awards program that has been established by the Internet Society to publicly recognize a distinguished and select group of leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the global open Internet.

View More Here

Worldwide Stats

Data & Visualizations created by Barland’s Ongoing Information

Source Internet World Stats

Video

Phablets are  mobile devices incorporating both a smartphone and a tablet computer in a single compact package (phone + tablet = phablet).

As smartphones take on more and more computer-like capabilities (viewing news, sports, photos, movies, taking photos and videos, and the like), there’s an increasing desire for screens with a larger display size and higher resolution. Combine this with the increasing number of users who want to “go mobile” with tablet computers, and you have the need for a more compact tablet computer. Since display sizes for smartphones are typically three to five inches and for tablet computers seven to ten inches, there’s a “gap” in the five- to seven-inch size. Enter a combined device a you get a Phablet

Up Coming New Books

 

A Visit To The Literary South

 

 

DuBose Heyward’s enthralling story of “Porgy set in Charleston S.C.

 

 

Savannah,Georgia’s Robert Louis Stevenson and the Pirates House that played a part in his book “Treasure Island.” The childhood homes of Flannery O’Connor and Conrad Aiken are also in Savannah, as well as sites associated with John Berendt’s bestselling book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil.”

 

Atlanta and  Margaret Mitchell’s tiny Peachtree Street apartment where she wrote”Gone with the Wind.” 

 

 

Thomas Wolfe, North Carolina’s most celebrated author, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who for two summers lived at the Grove Park Inn, a short driving distance from the Wolfe Memorial and the Biltmore Estate, the latter of which is North Carolina’smost visited tourist attraction

 

Ernest Hemingway’s Key West Spanish Colonial home on Whitehead Street and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ home in Cross Creek near Gainesville. Hemingway’s Key West home is where he completed the bulk of his most renowned works including; “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” and “A Farewell to Arms.” Most of the contents in the house belonged to him,making a visit all the more meaningful. Pages from Rawlings’ Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The Yearling,” spring to life on a visit to her Cross Creek home. Nearby her former homestead is the Ocala National Forest, which provides a vivid snapshot of the landscape that so inspired her writing “The Yearling.”

 

New Orleans, Louisiana is the South’s most magical and mysterious city, with several literary luminaries among its roster, including: Tennessee Williams, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Walker Percy and Lillian Hellman. 

 

Books With The Most Evil Characters

 

Ever Met One Of These Villians In Real Life?

     

Birmingham’s Bling Library

Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Europe

The rise of single-person households  in some European capitals now approaching 50% of households. Many libraries increasingly act as a meeting place or home from home, as they do for migrants, refugees and even tourists. The idea of the library as “the living room in the city” was first promulgated in 1970s Scandinavian library design, as architects responded to users’ wishes to stay longer, have a coffee, and enjoy storytelling sessions, lunchtime concerts or attend book-reading groups.  In some British towns, nearly half the population own a library card, even if it is only used infrequently. Libraries are seen as belonging to the public by right, compared with publicly funded theatres, art galleries, museums or concert halls.

The library’s changing demands is reflected in contemporary design. The library counter has largely gone. Self-service machines free up staff to spend more time with library users, organising storytelling sessions, book-signings and reading circles (there were more than 100,000 members of library reading groups in England and Wales at the last count.

Internet’s World Stats

INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS The Internet Big Picture World Internet Users and Population Stats

WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND POPULATION STATISTICS June 30, 2012 World Regions Population ( 2012 Est.) Internet Users Dec. 31, 2000 Internet Users Latest Data Penetration (% Population) Growth 2000-2012 Users % of Table Africa 1,073,380,925 4,514,400 167,335,676 15.6 % 3,606.7 % 7.0 % Asia 3,922,066,987 114,304,000 1,076,681,059 27.5 % 841.9 % 44.8 % Europe 820,918,446 105,096,093 518,512,109 63.2 % 393.4 % 21.5 % Middle East 223,608,203 3,284,800 90,000,455 40.2 % 2,639.9 % 3.7 % North America 348,280,154 108,096,800 273,785,413 78.6 % 153.3 % 11.4 % Latin America / Caribbean 593,688,638 18,068,919 254,915,745 42.9 % 1,310.8 % 10.6 % Oceania / Australia 35,903,569 7,620,480 24,287,919 67.6 % 218.7 % 1.0 % WORLD TOTAL 7,017,846,922 360,985,492 2,405,518,376 34.3 % 566.4 % 100.0 % NOTES: (1) Internet Usage and World Population Statistics are for June 30, 2012. (2) CLICK on each world region name for detailed regional usage information. (3) Demographic (Population) numbers are based on data from the US Census Bureau and local census agencies. (4) Internet usage information comes from data published by Nielsen Online, by the International Telecommunications Union, by GfK, local ICT Regulators and other reliable sources. (5) For definitions, disclaimers, navigation help and methodology, please refer to the Site Surfing Guide. (6) Information in this site may be cited, giving the due credit towww.internetworldstats.com. Copyright © 2001 – 2013, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved worldwide.

Didn’t Read The Whole Book

Image

The Librarian Workout Back In The Day

More Books

A Book For That Creative Child

“The Day the Crayons Quit” 

Written by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, ages 4-8) When Duncan reaches for his crayons instead he finds a stack of letters with his name on them. He begins to read. “Hey Duncan,” the first letter says. “It’s me, RED Crayon. WE NEED to talk. You make me work harder than any of your other crayons.”

In the note crayoned in red letters, Red Crayon complains about the many fire engines and apples he has to color, and that he even has to work on holidays, drawing Santas and valentines. “I NEED A REST!” he says.

Black crayon is tired of just being used for outlines. Orange and Yellow are arguing about who is the true color of the sun. Blue points out how short and stubby he is after all of those oceans and skies. Pink complains about being underused by Duncan, and Peach feels naked without his wrap and refuses to come out of the box.

Duncan, of course, is concerned. He wants his crayons to be happy. He then comes up with an idea.  He draws a picture — with a pink monster, a black beach ball, a green ocean, small blue bus, an orange whale and more. His teacher gives him an A for coloring and an A+ for creativity.

Summer Reads