Librarian who tried to stop patron’s arrest in Kansas City, Mo., acquitted

Roger Ebert's 4 Star Movie Guide and Serendipity

In the late 1980's BASF had a package of videotapes that included a book of movie reviews by Roger Ebert. The guide had the same dimensions as a videotape. What I like about Ebert reviews, actually more than like - but am amazed by, is how in a relatively short review there is meaningful insight. Sometimes the insight is into the movie or an actor but sometimes it is about life, the world, or people. Found books have always interested me. The serendipity of books beguiles me. How many people have been influenced or changed by a found book? Numerous people bought these tapes wanting the book. But then others were exposed to the book because of the purchase. Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker , was one of the people that found and was influenced by the book. Excerpt from his article Learning From Ebert - In the nineteen-eighties, when I was in high school, my parents bought a VHS player, and, with it, an Ebert video guide, in which various of his Chicago Sun-Time...

Deckle edge on books

(click on image to see a larger view) The note shown above about "deckle edge" can be seen in the Amazon record for the book The Art Student's War Deckle edging is considered a fancy feature on a book but to people that have not seen it before some people consider it a flaw. I have seen negative feedback on Amazon indicating that the person received a book that was messed up and the pages were not trimmed on the edges. My take on this note by Amazon is they want people to know what they are getting. Especially when some people consider deckle edging a flaw. What do you think of deckle edge on books?

New England Prep School Tosses it Library Collection

Story in School Library Journal Cushing Academy, the nation’s oldest co-ed boarding school, hopes to be a model for 21-century learning by getting rid of its entire library print collection. The 144-year-old school, located near Boston in Ashburnham, MA, is giving away or tossing its 20,000 book collection for 18 digital readers, enhanced electronic databases, flat-screen TVs, and laptop-equipped study cubicles—at a cost of about $500,000. Cushing headmaster James Tracy explained that the library is the "nicest space on campus" and that bookshelves wasted precious space that could be put to better use. The library will be transformed into an interactive learning center, faculty lounge, with a $50,000 cyber café and $12,000 cappuccino machine. "Students never open a book in the library," Tracy told School Library Journal, pointing to an in-house study that shows an average of 48 books in circulation on any given day, 30 of which are juvenile books checked out by the ...

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