Police say a Los Angeles-area woman stole 2,000 library books, as well as a number of DVDs, and was suspected of planning to sell off the collection. Library staff notified authorities after they noticed massive numbers of books had gone missing between March and July, and that a customer was acting suspiciously. [More]
libraries
Library Grants Thousands Of Kids Fine Amnesty To Get Them Reading Again
By 7.25.11
It might not be a big deal in the scheme of granting pardons, but for more than 140,000 kids with overdue fees of $15 or more in New York public libraries, amnesty means they’ll get to take books out again — if they participate in the library’s summer reading program. [More]
Free Stuff You Can Find At The Library
By 6.24.11
When you think of libraries, you think of book shelves. Well, book shelves and creepy dudes on computer terminals. But there is also a whole bunch of publicly-funded free stuff you can use and borrow if you know what to look for. [More]
Library E-Books Finally Come To The Kindle
By 4.20.11
Kindle users, fire up your brains for even more delicious books. Amazon announced earlier today that the OverDrive ebook library lending system is coming to the Kindle platform. The technology is already available on competing book replacement devices, the Nook and Kobo. Kindle Library Lending will give Kindle users access through the 11,000 public and school/college libraries that are already part of OverDrive. [More]
Libraries Launch Collection Of 80,000 Free E-Books
By 2.24.11
A group of libraries has gathered its resources to launch an e-book lending collection, filled with 80,000 entries, most of which are from the 20th century. [More]
Elderly Woman Jailed For Throwing Condiments In Library Book Drop
By 2.3.11
There are a number of ways to let an establishment know that you are unhappy with the service that it provides. Do not, however, follow the example of a 75-year-old Idaho woman who deposited ketchup, mayonnaise, maple syrup, and other sticky condiments in her local library’s book drop, destroying books and evading capture. She recently plead guilty to the crime, and will serve one month in jail. [More]
College Libraries Save Money By Ignoring Netflix Terms Of Use
By 9.22.10
Plenty of Americans have cut their household entertainment budgets by subscribing to Netflix instead of seeing movies in theaters or purchasing DVDs. Now, some college libraries are doing the same thing, sort of. They’re using rented DVDs or streaming video instead of purchasing the movies that professors assign. Is this a violation of Netflix’s terms of use? Yes. But the librarians don’t particularly care, and Netflix doesn’t seem to, either. Yet. As a Netflix spokesman said, “We just don’t want to be pursuing libraries.” [More]
Seattle Libraries To Close For A Week To Save Money
By 8.23.10
If you live in Seattle, make sure you don’t plan any library outings between August 30th and September 6th, when all branches will be closed. As it did last year, the library system is shutting down services and not paying employees for a week to cut about $650,000 from its budget. Fortunately, you’ll still be able to access several electronic services that week, including ebook checkout and online databases. [More]
More People Getting DVDs From Library Than From Netflix Or Redbox
By 7.29.10
Why rent the cow when you can borrow the milk for free? That seems to be the mindset of many Americans, as a new study claims that more DVDs are borrowed from libraries each day than are rented via Netflix, Redbox or Blockbuster. [More]
College Library Parodies Old Spice Commercials To Coax Students From Dorm Rooms
By 7.16.10
I’m a college librarian by training. One of the challenges in the profession right now is convincing students who have grown up with instantaneous access to information from home that a library has something to offer them. Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library reached out to students by producing a video that shows off library resources and looks awfully…. familiar. [More]
UK School Wants To Fingerprint Kids Who Take Out Library Books
By 5.30.10
What’s your children’s privacy worth? Should they be subjected to fingerprinting just to take out a library book? That’s the question parents at a school in the UK are grappling with. [More]
George Washington Owes $300K For Overdue Library Books
By 4.17.10
Who knew George Washington was as bad as the rest of us at returning books? Seems President Numero Uno has racked up quite a debt — to the tune of an inflation-adjusted $300,000 — owing the New York Society Library for not returning two books back in 1789. Shame on you, G Dubs! [More]
Top 20 Passive Aggressive Library Signs
By 4.15.10
It’s National Library Week and BuzzFeed has put together a list of the top 20 passive aggressive library signs. It’s hard to choose a favorite, but here are 3 we especially like. [More]
Philadelphia's Public Libraries Not Closing After All
By 9.21.09
Lovers of books, free Internet access, and community gathering spaces, rejoice. The Philadelphia Free Library will not be closing on October 2nd, as previously threatened.
Live In Ohio? Your Library May Soon Close
By 7.3.09
Here at Consumerist, we love libraries. They’re like some weird, old-school version of Netflix, but with books! And free! That makes them one of the most cost-effective sources of entertainment and reference material around. Unfortunately, Ohio may gut the funding on this public resource if the proposed state budget goes through.
By 5.26.09
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There’s a new free app for the iPhone called Audiobooks that connects you to 1800 public domain recordings, mostly of classic books. [TUAW]
By 1.27.09
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Here’s a resource to help you determine whether your library lends digital media such as audiobooks and ebooks. It also helps you locate other libraries that offer digital lending. [Overdrive] (Thanks to jojo319!)
