While they do not represent the rainbow of reading tastes American public libraries accommodate, Book Review editors are a wildly eclectic bunch. One look at their bedside tables and ereaders would reveal very little crossover. This article highlights an eclectic array of spring offerings ranging from print books to an audiobook to ebook apps. It…

A hundred years after Marie Curie received her Nobel Prize in Chemistry, this arm of science is pointing the way to a more sustainable future. Growing movements like green chemistry, which strives to create alternative and new chemical reactions that produce no harmful waste products, and molecular engineering hold great potential for industry,…

The Do It Yourself (DIY) section is an essential and well-used part of the public library's collection and must be kept up-to-date to remain valuable, since tools, materials, and building codes are always changing. Current economic decline has increased the topic's popularity as homeowners choose to remodel rather than buy, or attempt to make…

Respondents to "Library Journal's" ("LJ") annual book buying survey of public libraries nationwide reported that adult book budgets were down eight percent overall, the largest plunge recorded since the survey began in 1998. What's more, for the first time ever, cuts were reported for every region of the country and every size of population…

What do a pink door, reading glasses, a website, and a Beetle Kill Pine ceiling have in common? Yes, readers will find them all in this collection of great design in libraries. But the reason they're featured is their important commonality: they were intentionally and thoughtfully placed in a library to meet people's needs or otherwise engage…

"Library Journal"'s national rating of public libraries, the "LJ" Index of Public Library Service 2009, Round 2, identifies 258 "star" libraries. Created by Keith Curry Lance and Ray Lyons and based on 2007 data from the IMLS, it rates 7,268 public libraries. The top libraries in each group get five, four, or three stars. All included libraries,…

America is facing what many have called the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, with one in ten Americans unemployed. It's no surprise, then, that the 2010 book-buying survey of public libraries is on the dark side. Representing some 100 institutions nationwide distributed equitably by size, type, and location, "LJ"'s annual survey…

It's no surprise that libraries in "LJ"'s annual budget survey reported an overall downward trend, with the expected decline in total budgets some 2.6% and the change in materials budgets 3.5%. Per capita funding is nudging down after years of steady if sometimes modest increases, with a projected decline of 1.6% in FY10. After all, the country…

Midwestern gardeners are legendary for enduring and outwitting winter, with its heavy snowpack and recurring freezes and thaws. Most of them also reckon with a relatively short growing period. All of them find their horticultural plans complicated by hot, humid summers. In fact, the Midwest deals with four seasons dictating special considerations…

It's been over a year since Blu-ray defeated HD-DVD in the battle of high-definition discs. Despite the economic crunch, Blu-ray is continuing to gain momentum in the consumer and library markets. It is seeing broader adoption owing to several factors. According to an April 2009 Harris Interactive poll, 12 percent of public libraries and 11…

This article reports on a 2009 budget survey conducted by "Library Journal" in which a random sample of U.S. public libraries were surveyed via mail or fax in October 2008. Those that answered the survey projected a modest increase in budgets for 2009, just 2%, with less than a 1% increase in funds for materials, a predictable area for cuts. That…

This article reports on "LJ"'s annual book-buying survey of public libraries in which circulation took the biggest leap recorded since the survey was launched in 1999. This year's whopping 5.16 percent increase overall suggests just how many people are saving pennies by borrowing materials instead of buying them. In fact, libraries are being…

Books on the topic of pregnancy abound; in fact, publishers are more attentive to the subject than ever. According to R.R. Bowker's "Books in Print," 226 nonfiction pregnancy titles were published in 2006, a 30 percent increase over the decade before. Add to this glut all the magazines, DVDs, web sites, and TV programs available on the topic, and…

In the past three years, the Union County Carnegie Library (UCCL) in South Carolina has "been transformed." The library board, selected by the county supervisors, knew something had to be done. In October 2005, the board hired Nancy E. Rosenwald as UCCL director. Longing to get back to South Carolina from western Connecticut, Rosenwald…

When flood came to Cedar Rapids city, the Cedar Rapids Public Library (CRPL), IA, lost 160,000 items including large parts of its adult and youth collections, magazines, newspapers, reference materials, CDs, and DVDs. Most of its public access computers were destroyed as was its computer lab and microfilm equipment. The automatic circulation and…