Rare Print Discovered in Library Book

Posted by trav in Book Collecting, Book Column, Book Talk, library, News, On the TV      No comments

May
4

I love stories like this… The NY Times published the recent account of a Brown University archivist finding, what is believed to be one of only five copies of a print done by revolutionary heavyweight Paul Revere himself. No doubt the chance of this happening increases if your job is handling books from the 1700′s. But it’s still pretty cool to think that such a unique rarity was just stuck in the back of a book on physics. Revere was quite the engraver and printer, flooding the colonies with pamphlets and political information. He’s certainly not known for any kind of iconic or religious art, which ups the “cool factor” of the find. Be sure to click through to read the article on the library archivist and see the photos.

If nifty old archives of historical significance interest you then you should tune into Book TV (on CSPAN2) this weekend. At noon, on Saturday, they will be touring old bookstores and the Nichols Collection at the University of Oklahoma. They have books going back as far as the 15th century! They also have a History of Science Collection with papers and books from Galileo, Copernicus and other famous people in white lab coats. I think it’ll be fun to watch.

Homewood Library Used-Book Store

Posted by trav in Birmingham, Book Collecting, Bookstores, library      2 comments

Mar
19

Here is a quick photo tour of the used-book store that is maintained by the Homewood Library’s Friends of the Library Group. It’s located downstairs at the Homewood Library and is open:

• Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Saturday 10:00 a.m.-2 p.m.

This is by far the best library bookstore to visit if you are looking for magazines. They have shelves and shelves of magazines that I’ve never heard of, plus all of the big popular ones. If magazines and journals are your thing – THIS is the shop you have to visit. Magazines cost ten cents each.

The whole used-bookstore is pretty big, divided among three rooms, with a so-so turnover in the Fiction shelves. Most everything is discarded library books. Though finding donated copies (with no library stickers or stamps) isn’t uncommon. I have seen First Edition books priced at $5 and they do keep a 50 cent table, which is always worth glancing through when you’re at the library.

The first thing to do when you arrive is look down just inside the door. There is a cardboard box there with Free Stuff in it. It’s usually just magazines, maps, photos, etc. but you may find something there. Also, in the magazine room, there is another bookshelf unit and another box with free books and magazines for the taking.

Vestavia Hills Library Used-Book Store

Posted by trav in Birmingham, Bookstores, library      2 comments

Feb
18

Here is a quick photo tour of the Vestavia Hills Friends of the Library used-book store. The Vestavia Hills Library has a new building and with it comes a new bookstore space. While this shop is about a third of the size of the original used-book store, the quality of books found is always high and the volunteers manning the desk are always up for a friendly chat.

One of the main reasons I really like this store is that it has a very high concentration of donated hardcovers. And they are all still $3! That means no library stickers to peel off, stamps, etc. I once found a signed first-edition (with verification crd from the Alabama Booksmith) of Brooks’ The People of the Book and all I had to fork over was $3. That’s the kind of thing that makes digging through bookstores so much fun.

Once you enter the library, the bookstore will be to your left. It’s worth stopping in to see if any other signed gems have slipped through the cracks and made it to the shelves. Their hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. They are closed Saturday and open on Sundays 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Used-Book Sale Downtown Birmingham

Posted by trav in Birmingham, Bookstores, Events, library      No comments

Feb
2

The book sale ends February 4th. So you have a few more days to get to the downtown branch of the Birmingham Library and scope out the books. The deal is you pay $6 and get an official library re-usable tote to stuff with as many books as you can. The only catch is that your selection is restricted to the “overstock” carts outside of the bookstore. So the books inside the shop (still priced only 50 cents to $2) are off limits.

You can expect lots of Clancy, King and Wouk out on the carts, but there are lots of other things too. Two carts are crammed with newer kids’ books.

Just inside the Friends of the Library shop is the new merch room with lots of branded shirts, mugs cups and bags. It’s worth checking out as well.

Getting Library Books on Your Kindle

Posted by trav in E-Books, library, News      No comments

Sep
21

UPDATE #2: Looks like the Kindle library lending options are live for the JCLC system!

UPDATE : OverDrive has released a statement saying that the library system will work with WhisperSync to push notes, bookmarks, etc. to the ebook if you buy it or check it out again. But you still can only download library ebooks via WiFi or the USB cable. /stop/

News broke today that Amazon officially started letting people, in select parts of Washington state, check out and read library books on their Kindles. This program is in partnership with OverDrive, which is a good move I think, but Amazon should have worked harder to integrate. For starters, they’re wrapping all of the ePubs in their proproetary .tpz format. Whatever. But the “ugh” part really kicks in during checkout.

Checking out JCLC books via the OverDrive app is a painless one, once you get the Adobe DRM straight. But Amazon has added a couple more clicks and a couple more steps to the process. So to read library books on your Kindle you:

1. log in to your library
2. check out book
3. which take you to Amazon.com where you have to log in there
4. check out book there which lets you download the file
5. hook your Kindle up via USB, drag and drop the Kindle library book

Now I don’t live in Seattle and have yet to do this myself. I’m very thankful to the Seattle Times crew and their detailed photos and coverage.

I am not a software engineer and I’m sure it’s very hard to get the big independent systems to work together on something as complicated as checking out files that need to expire. But it’s Amazon! If anyone has the customer-centered focus, skills and dollars, to bring harmony to the library>>OverDrive>>Kindle>>library cycle, it’s them.

No word yet on when the rest of the country might get the service, but no doubt Kindle users will be very glad to have access to their library’s ebook collections, no matter how cumbersome the checkout process gets.

Bham – Erase those library fines this month

Posted by trav in Birmingham, Events, library, News      No comments

Sep
14

We are in the middle of this year’s Food for Fines month, in Jefferson County. Basically, you get $1 credit applied to your library fines for every canned good you bring in. All 39 JCLC branches are collecting the food for their annual food drive.

It caps out at $10. So if you have $11 in fines, you will need to bring 10 cans and $1. For that you’ll get your overdue library fines erased, help some people in need and get a warm smile from a friendly librarian.

Birmingham Central Library Bookstore Updated

Posted by trav in Birmingham, Bookstores, library      1 comment

Aug
17

The Friends Bookstore at the Central Library downtown has been re-vamped and re-opened. For the past couple of weeks, patrons have been able to come in a peruse the newly culled (and VERY well organized) stock of surplus library and donated books.

The Friends Bookstore is even entering into the service side of things, as you can now email them (bplfriendsbookstore [at] gmail.com) and ask to be added to the “new stock” distribution list. So every time the shop adds to their shelves, you’ll get an email. Pretty nifty.

They have even left shelf space for the new additions. So you can run in on a lunch break and see if there is anything new, without having to cruise through all the shelves.

The new set-up also sports new reading chairs and more shelf space for kids and teen books.

One of my favorite new tweaks is that now the overstock magazines are folded in with the books. So when you’re looking at the books on history or crafts, the magazines that fit in that category are on the shelf with the books. The shelves also have new bright green category labels and shelf-talkers, making it easier to navigate the sections.

The books still run from 50 cents (paperback) to $2 (hardback). So the prices are sure to keep you coming back.

The store is on the 2nd floor of the downtown brancj and will be open Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., and Sunday, 2:30-5:30 p.m. It is maintained by the Friends of the Birmingham Public Library.

OverDrive Announces December App Release

Posted by trav in Digital Publishing, E-Books, iPhone, library      No comments

Nov
9

I’m a fan of the ebook lending program the JCLC has going. It’s great. But I also would like to have the ebooks to go and not have to lug the laptop everywhere. I’ve tried txtr and BlueFire Reader both of which say they work with Adobe Digital Editions, but have had no luck (apparently the snag lies with something called “transferred” loans). So I was very excited to see over on The Digital Reader (a blog you should follow) that Overdrive has announced their app lineup. Releases start in December.

This is going to be BIG!

Here’s the YouTube video that Nate dug up:

Alabama Bound is Tomorrow

Posted by trav in Birmingham, Events, library      No comments

Mar
19

This year, Alabama Bound is taking a different track and falling in line with the state-wide The Big Read initiative. It’s still free (except lunch) and runs from 10a-3p, tomorrow (Saturday, march 20th) at the Central Branch in downtown Birmingham. Since this year’s Big Read is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, they are going to have a Mark Twain impersonator, music “from way back” and the Irondale Cafe will be catering. Looks like the weather is going to be nice too!

Birmingham’s Local Author Expo This Weekend

Posted by trav in Birmingham, Book Talk, Bookstores, Events, library, News      No comments

Dec
4

The annual Local Author Expo has been in full swing since 11 a.m. today and ends at 3 p.m. for the day. If you didn’t make it out today, you can go by the Birmingham Library tomorrow (Sat., Dec. 5th) and mingle with some of Birmingham’s literary minds.

Over 140 local authors are attending this year to sell, sign books and meet readers. I haven’t been by today, but I did go last year and posted some photos of the author tables winding around the corridors of the library’s first level.

One thing you are guaranteed, if you you make it by the Author Expo… lots of interesting people talking about interesting local topics.