17% of kids 8 years and under use a mobile device daily.
Almost one in five children under age 8 uses a mobile device every day. That’s one-third the number of children reading books on a daily basis.
Continue reading… “1 in 5 kids under age 8 use a mobile device every day”
Libraries and librarians need to exist and help foster a love of reading and places in which reading can occur.
Neil Gaiman gives The Reading Agency annual lecture on the future of reading and libraries. He explains why using our imaginations, and providing for others to use theirs, is an obligation for all citizens.
Continue reading… “Our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming: Neil Gaiman”
The 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair brings over 200,000 book trade professionals to Germany each fall.
Book publishers worldwide share some of the same challenges no matter what country they are in. Book publishers are grappling with the digital transition — which, depending on where you live, has either already arrived or is about to come knocking. They’re battling for readers’ eyeballs, trying to make books stand out in a sea of other forms of entertainment. And they’re figuring out how to price their digital content.
Continue reading… “New ebook markets, battles and pricing strategies: Frankfurt Book Fair 2013”
MVRDV, a Rotterdam-based company, has just completed the ‘book mountain + library quarter’ centrally located in the market square of Spijkenisse, the Netherlands. It houses a mountain of bookshelves and is contained by a glass-enclosed structure and pyramidal roof with an impressive total surface area of 9,300 square meters. Corridors and platforms bordering the form are accessed by a network of stairs to allow visitors to browse the tiers of shelves. A continuous route of 480 meters culminates at the peak’s reading room and cafe with panoramic views through the transparent roof. Any possible damage caused to the books by direct sunlight is offset by the expected 4 year lifespan of borrowed materials. (Photos)
Continue reading… “Book Mountain: A stunning glass-enclosed library”
“Younger Americans’ reading habits and library use are still anchored by the printed page.”
Younger Americans no longer visit public libraries and have all but abandoned paper books in favor of digital media has been the stereotype for a while. But in reality, young Americans are actually more likely than older Americans to have read a printed book in the past year and are more likely than their elders to use a library.
Continue reading… “Younger Americans are reading books and visiting libraries after all: Study”
Bookstores are in crisis. Books aren’t.
There has been an upheaval in bookselling over the past ten years. With the surge in online ordering, the challenges faced by brick and mortar booksellers, and the arguing over ebook pricing you would think the book industry was in crisis. But sales figures suggest otherwise. Increasingly, this churning appears to be an integral feature of a steady process of transformation in the digital age.
Continue reading… “Book sales are on the rise even though booksellers are in turmoil”
The New York Public Library recently embarked on a controversial plan to move two to three million books off-site.
The New York Public Library (NYPL) retired its pneumatic-tube system sometime last year. It had been used to request books for more than a century. The New York Public Library opened in 1911 and that pneumatic call system had changed little since then. You still filled out a slip, and you still turned that slip over to a clerk, who would load it into a metal cartridge. The cartridge would be driven by air pressure to a station down in the stacks, where another clerk would retrieve your book, which was then sent back up to the call desk by a dumbwaiter. In recent years, this procedure would take about 20 minutes. In decades past, I’m told, it was closer to five.
Is this the future of books?
Sure, the best thing you can do with an average book is read it, but when it comes to out dated textbooks and the Twilight series, book art is also a good solution. Over on WebUrbanist you can check out 31 fantastic examples of book sculptures that show just how much variety there can be in this fascinating medium…
Continue reading… “Awesome book sculptures”
Who has read all the books they own?
In the documentary, Derrida, the documentarian is with Derrida in Derrida’s library, and asks, “Have you read all these” books?
Continue reading… “On the meaningfulness of books bought, but not read: Daniel Silliman”
Now there’s something an iPad can’t do.
Miler Lagos’s installation at the MagnanMetz Gallery in New York City is entitled simply “Home”. After he finished it, the dome was completely enclosed and self-supporting. Just imagine if you had one of these, consisting entirely of the books that you have read over the course of your life…
Continue reading… “An Igloo for Book Lovers”
Some of the greatest writers in history have had works lost over time.
There are some great written works from authors such as Shakespeare and Jane Austen that you’ll never have a chance to read. Here are the top 10:
Continue reading… “Top 10 books from worlds greatest writers you will never have a chance to read”
Book art by Brian Dettmer
If you think cutting up books can only be a destructive process, then you have never encountered the art of Brian Dettmer. Dettmer uses knives, tweezers and surgical tools to carve out books one page at a time to create these works of art. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Amazing book carvings by Brian Dettmer”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.