Belgian researchers report the enticing aroma of chocolate inspired bookstore shoppers to stick around longer, and boosted sales of certain genres.
See the full article: Chocolate: The Scent That Could Save Struggling Bookstores | Pacific Standard Magazine.
In the June 2013 issue of Q&Q, Vancouver librarians Shirley Lew and Baharak Yousefi argue that libraries should get into the business of selling books.
See the full article: Quill & Quire | Guest opinion: why libraries should get into the book-selling business.
Quotable: “The loss of independent bookstores is accompanied by the loss of diversity, possibility, and sense of place. Publishers, writers, and the readers they serve all lose in a market that rewards blockbusters but ignores alternative voices and ideas. Instead of being bystanders to this devastation, libraries have compelling reasons to seize the opportunity it presents. We have a mandate to help preserve our literary and cultural landscape; we have the space, often in rent-controlled buildings; we know how to buy and promote books; and we are not constrained by the need to turn a profit. We are uniquely equipped to sell books and support writers, publishers, and reading in Canada.”
Related: Storify: should libraries sell books? [some Twitter reactions] | Quill & Quire
Fans of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice gather at Chatsworth House – Telegraph.
See the link for the gallery of images. Fans all dressed up in Regency.
A perennial topic of conversation among people who debate literature on the Internet is the relative importance of books as physical objects. Foremost among defenders of the printed book are those who extol the sensual pleasures of reading—the feel of the pages, the heft of the object, the smell of the paper—and maintain that it is impossible to experience those pleasures digitally.
In a related, but separate, camp are those attracted not to the tactile pleasures of books but to their beauty as objects.
via Internet Book Fetishists Versus Anti-Fetishists | The New Yorker.
Readers around the world | Russia Beyond The Headlines
It would be interesting to see a comparison of genre popularity across the G20. Maybe I should ask my Russian friends if there is any meaning to the fact Russians love fantasy novels…spurred by Sputnik and utopian dreams??
You may also like: Russian science fiction and fantasy | Wikipedia and The Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko, which has been translated into English.
Every day library staff share books they love with their users. Now, you can reach beyond the library walls to tell the rest of the country about the books you can’t wait to share.
LibraryReads – a new program, launching this fall [in the U.S.], harnesses the value of “library staff picks” into a single nation-wide discovery tool, a monthly list of ten newly released must-reads. via LibraryReads.
LibraryReads has launched a website, with areas for library staff, publishers, sample recommendation list and a comprehensive FAQ. Also sign up to join the program and receive the newsletter.
See the press release.
See also: LibraryReads Book Discovery Program To Launch | ALA Annual 2013 | Library Journal
One of the biggest success stories in U.S. publishing in recent years has been the continued growth of digital book publishing. Last year, total revenue for e-book sales in the United States reached $3.04 billion, a 44.2% increase on 2011′s numbers and a figure all the more impressive when you realize that growth is additive to the print publishing industry. Even more surprising, publishers have focused much of their attention on genres like sci-fi, fantasy, mystery and romance fiction – markets that have traditionally lagged behind “literary fiction” in terms of sales.
See the full article: Why Genre Rules e-Books, and What the Big Publishers Are Doing About It | Wired
A brand-spanking-new Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life study (just released this morning) has found some surprising information about young people and their opinions of libraries and print books.
Here’s the lead:
Belying the stereotype that younger Americans completely eschew print for digital, those ages 16-29 have wide-ranging media and technology behaviors that straddle the traditional paper-based world of books and digital access to information.
One major surprise in a new report from the Pew Research Center is that even in an age of increasing digital resources, those in this under-30 cohort are more likely than older Americans to use and appreciate libraries as physical spaces – places to study for class, go online, or just hang out. [emphasis added]
See the full article: This Just In: Young Adults Love Libraries | The Digital Shift.
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