Free Library Blog - Posts by Anne L.

Announcing Online Library Customer Survey

Anne L. — 2012-09-17T08:39:00-05:00

Be part of a select group! The Free Library invites you to help us test a new, national survey designed to learn more about reading habits and the many ways people use their public library. Starting Monday, September 17, the Free Library is participating in a beta test of Library Journal’s “Patron Profiles” new survey form. We are limited to only 500 completed surveys, after which we will remove the links. Several other libraries across the country are also trying this survey out, and results will be compiled and shared.

What is Patron Profiles? It analyzes information collected through a national sample of 2,000+ public library consumers, and is produced in partnership with Library Journal, a major periodical about library related issues, and Bowker Pubtrack Consumer, a book publishing research company. We will have access to data results from Free Library users, as well as a chance to compare our results with the other libraries participating in this survey.

We want to learn about how you use the Free Library! Please click on the link below to get started. You will be asked about 50 questions, and your responses will be confidential. The survey takes about 10 - 15 minutes to complete. (If you find you can't complete it, you will need to start it again. Sorry!)

Patron Profiles Survey Link: https://survey.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cZ9vZ1MbQZAQ1ms&Q_lang=PHIL

Please keep in mind these are questions that are being asked in several cities. This means some of the questions may not apply to services we currently offer. If you do take the survey, we would also like to hear from you about what you think of these questions.

Thanks for your help!

Penguin ebooks again available for Kindle users

Anne L. — 2011-11-23T13:11:00-05:00

I'm pleased to report that "Get for Kindle’ for all Penguin eBooks in our catalog has been restored as of this morning. According to OverDrive, our ebook provider, "Penguin titles are available for check out by Kindle users and the Kindle format will be available for patrons who are currently on a waiting list for a Penguin title. This does not affect new releases, which remain unavailable."

Penguin ebooks situation unfolds

Anne L. — 2011-11-21T17:52:00-05:00

Kindle users, especially, will want to read this news flash: the Free Library learned Monday afternoon that Penguin Publishers has notified OverDrive, the vendor through which we provide ebooks to library customers, that it is reviewing terms for library lending of their ebooks. (Penguin published The Help, and numerous other popular titles.) In the interim, OverDrive was instructed to suspend availability of new Penguin eBook titles from our library catalog and to disable “Get for Kindle” functionality for all Penguin eBooks. OverDrive staff has told us that they are actively working with Penguin on this issue and hope Penguin will agree to restore access to their new titles and Kindle availability as soon as possible.

For more information about this ebook development, please see this blog post: http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2011/11/ebooks/penguin-group-usa-to-no-longer-allow-library-lending-of-new-ebook-titles/

We have contacted Penguin as well as OverDrive, and will keep you updated about any additional changes. We apologize for any inconvenience

Good news for Kindle owners!

Anne L. — 2011-04-21T08:53:00-05:00

Public libraries, including the Free Library, have long been stymied that the ebooks we offer were not usable on Kindles. This was an industry issue that we ourselves were not able to resolve. So we were surprised and thrilled to learn yesterday that Amazon, which sells Kindles, and OverDrive, currently the major supplier of ebooks to public libraries, announced that will change later this year. Dubbed the "Kindle Library Lending program," Kindle customers will be able to borrow eBooks from public libraries. Details are still limited, but according to an OverDrive statement, our "existing collection of downloadable eBooks will be available to Kindle customers." This means that Kindle owners will be able to check out a title with their library card "and then select Kindle as the delivery destination." We will keep you posted as to when this change will occur!

HarperCollins makes changes to library e-book sales and lending

Anne L. — 2011-03-07T10:40:00-05:00

HarperCollins publisher announced a week ago that it was changing its sales restrictions to libraries that loan e-books. Previously, when we libraries purchased HarperCollins e-books, that e-copy could be checked out an unlimited number of times. As of today, that is changing: any HarperCollins e-book that we purchase may be checked out only 26 times before the license expires. Additional copies will have to be purchased before they can be made available for library customers to check out, possibly at a lower price. This change has caused a considerable amount of commotion in the library world because of the potential impact on this popular service, particularly since many libraries are coping with reduced budgets. Recent HarperCollins bestsellers include Justin Halpern’s Sh*t My Dad Says and Sarah Palin’s America By Heart.

The Free Library “owns” a number of HarperCollins e-books whose circulation numbers exceed 26 times. Other publishers are undoubtedly watching this situation unfold and debating whether or not to limit its e-book sales to libraries. At the Free Library, on a temporary basis, we will not purchase new HarperCollins titles until we have more information on how HarperCollins and our vendor (OverDrive) will implement this change and until we know what the pricing structure will be for additional copies once the 26 number has been reached. We are also joining discussions with HarperCollins to offer other possible options as we all attempt to figure out this new landscape. If you’d like additional information, this recent New York Times article is a brief summary of both perspectives: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/27/a-limit-on-lending-e-books/?scp=1&sq=HarperCollins&st=cse

What are your thoughts about e-books and publisher limitations? Join the discussion!

100 Notable Books of 2008

Anne L. — 2008-12-04T10:24:00-05:00

This is that time of the year when we start to see a multitude of "Best of...." lists. One of my favorites is always The New York Times "Notable Books of..." for whatever year we happen to be ending. This year's list isn't officially released until Sunday, December 7, but it's already firmly ensconced in their "most emailed" articles. So, don't be left out! Take a look at the attached link to the NYT's vote for "100 Notable Books of 2008" to see how many of these books you have read! Are there any surprises for you? Any titles that you think should have been included?

The Free Library already owns all but one or two of these titles, and we'll be getting those shortly, so take a moment to peruse this rich and very diverse list and click to our catalog to reserve a copy of one or more of these titles. These lists always make me feel somewhat ill-read, but they are also inspiring. I see more than one or two titles that I'm going to make sure I read in the new year. How about you?

DVDs - New Arrivals!

Anne L. — 2008-11-07T15:07:00-05:00

The great thing about the wide array of DVDs available at the Free Library is that there is truly something for everyone, from every genre, stretching back to the silent era (look for the very buff Douglas Fairbanks in the wildly exotic 1924 Thief of Bagdad) to cable’s latest series phenom, AMC’s Mad Men Season One. Here’s a look at some of the great new and forthcoming DVD titles:

Of course, you should expect to see these summer’s blockbusters in your library very soon: Iron Man, Wall-E, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II and already available is the surprise hit political mystery, Vantage Point.
Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman go bodice to bodice in the soapy but entertaining Other Boleyn Girl with great assists from Kristin Scott-Thomas and brooding Eric Banas as the volatile Henry VIII – no pre-nups allowed!
Don’t overlook the critically acclaimed indie drama about an economics professor’s encounter with an illegal immigrant couple squatting in his apartment from director Thomas McCarthy , The Visitor or the low-key comedic charmer with the irreplaceable Frances McDormand, Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day.
Older releases and classics that you won’t want to miss are the acclaimed Basquiat, Michael Douglas in a winning comeback as The King of California, Tupac Shakur’s landmark performance in 1992’s Juice, and the November re-release of Hitchcock’s 1946 thriller Notorious, starring the chemically fused duo of Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman battling escaped Nazis in post-war Rio in the persons of sinister Claude Rains and his very scary mom, played by cobra-eyed Madame Konstantin. New from the fabulous Criterion Collections are restored, chock-full-of-extras, releases of Max Ophuls’ 1950 reverie La Ronde, Akira Kurasawa’s 1963 thriller High and Low, and Jim Jarmusch’s deadpan slacker cult classic Stranger Than Paradise.
On the import side, why not forget the current Nicholas Cage bummer Bangkok Dangerous and go with the roller coaster ride, all-Thai original Bangkok Dangerous(2000), or try the French cineplex chiller Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre with an all-star cast including Sophie Marceau, Michel Serrault, Julie Christie, with a cameo from 60’s hipster sexpot Juliette Greco – who starred in the original 1960s French teleseries of the same name.
More from the small screen: the sly, subversive animated series The Boondocks, Seasons 1 & 2, and don’t miss everyone’s favorite, lovable serial killer – Dexter, The Complete Second Season.
Documentaries you will want to see include the re-release of the docudrama about Langston Hughes Looking for Langston, filmed in a semi-dramatic, dreamscape style; Breaking the Maya Code, focusing on one of the most important archaeological breakthroughs of recent times; and the disturbing but fascinating Television Under the Swastika, which compiled material from 285 reels found in the catacombs of the Berlin Federal Film Archive, exploring the technology behind the then-new medium and the programming the Nazis used.

Check them out!

Written by Brian C.

Tony Hillerman

Anne L. — 2008-10-28T18:10:00-05:00

On Sunday, Tony Hillerman, the writer who brought the southwest and the Navajo Indian nation to life for many readers, died at the age of 83. I began reading his books many moons ago, and when I visited that part of Arizona and New Mexico a couple of years ago, I felt like I was stepping into one of his books. The light, the mountains, the vast empty spaces - all there - just as he had described them. The only things missing were Jim Chee and Lt. Joe Leaphorn, his enduring characters in many of his books. If you haven't read one of his books, or if you've missed one or two of his books along the way, you're in for a treat, from his first book The Blessing Way, published in 1970 to his last, The Shape Shifter, published in 2006. Thank you, Mr. Hillerman.

Street Lit at the Free Library

Anne L. — 2008-10-25T10:37:00-05:00

Regular readers of the New York Times may have read this week's article "From the Streets to the Libraries" which described why so many public libraries are buying "street lit." The article's writer seemed surprised by how widely libraries have been embracing street lit, sometimes also called "urban fiction." The books and other library materials that public libraries buy should reflect community interests. Here in Philadelphia, we know that street lit is "hot." So we buy lots. Just as we buy all kinds of other books, which is what you should expect in a city the size of Philadelphia.

Authors like Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim started the trend back in the 1960's and 70's. A number of authors today, such as Philadelphia's Teri Woods, began publishing their own books and still do, although a number of larger publishing companies began picking up these authors after they saw how successful they were. Street lit can get a conversation going, with some people concerned about the street language and depictions of violence, drugs and sex. Omar Tyree, an author who has been part of the Free Library's author series, has recently said that he is not going to write any more street lit books. Street lit titles are so popular though with many readers because they feel "real" to their readers.

What do you think? Here are links to books the Free Library owns of several of the authors mentioned in the NYT article:

Donald Goines

Iceberg Slim

Omar Tyree

Teri Woods. Click here ( Street Lit panel ) to listen to a podcast of the December 2007 panel discussion on street lit which included Teri Woods, Shannon Holmes, and Solomon Jones.

Upcoming: Sister Souljah is speaking at Parkway Central on December 20 at 2:00 about her forthcoming book Midnight: A Gangster Love Story.

Centennial Collection and Please Touch Museum

Anne L. — 2008-10-15T09:31:00-05:00

Congratulations to the Please Touch Museum, which is currently celebrating its move to a gloriously restored Memorial Hall in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. One of my favorite exhibits focuses on the 1876 Centennial Exhibition and features a number of photos from the Free Library's Print and Pictures Collection that help bring to life the model diorama created in 1889 that is nestled in Memorial Hall's lower level . If you're intrigued by those wonderful Centennial photos at the Please Touch Museum, you can see even more of the Free Library's Centennial Exhibition digital collection by clicking on: http://libwww.freelibrary.org/cencol/

Not to be missed is "touring" many of the buildings through the Library's photographs just by clicking on the interactive map. These many images of the Centennial Exhibition, Memorial Hall and Fairmount Park - captured more than 130 years ago and vividly on display both at the Please Touch and digitally at the Free Library - are terrific reminders of Philadelphia's rich history.

(And to learn more about the Please Touch Museum, go to: http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/