Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Libraries - history of, love of, a place to be, and relationship to publishing...

A short article from History magazine on the history of libraries
http://www.history-magazine.com/libraries.html

and for inspiration, in case you haven't seen it, this "Librophiliac Love Letter : a compendium of beautiful libraries" from the Curious Expeditions website
http://curiousexpeditions.org/2007/09/a_librophiliacs_love_letter_1.html

And another couple of articles that came through Library Link of the Day :

A piece by Alex Wright in the Christian Science Monitor about the important role of a library as a place to gather and share in the reading experience
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/p09s02-coop.html

"We need books, yes, but somehow we also seem to need physical places to read them, together. This is why a collection of digital books is no more a library than a stack of paintings is a museum."


And an article from Library Journal by Barbara Fister - Publishers & Librarians: Two Cultures, One Goal on the relationship between libraries and publishers...
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6652447.html

Here's a nice snippet...

"Libraries are far more than a market, however. Libraries create readers. They are the test bed, the petri dish for books, a place where people can discover a passion for reading as children and indulge it as adults and where passionate readers can sample new authors. Librarians are the ultimate handsellers of books (though they call it readers' advisory), and increasingly they put their considerable technical skills into making library web sites rich interactive social networks for book lovers.

Many library users are also book buyers. Tim Spalding of LibraryThing noticed that when he mapped the location of bookstores and libraries in urban communities, bookstores often cluster near libraries, benefiting from the proximity. But libraries are much more broadly spread throughout the community. They bring books to places where future, and current, readers live but where no bookstore will go.

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