book glutton: a new spin on book groups

Have you ever written in the margin of a library book?

I haven’t but I’ve come across notes often enough to know that it happens all the time.  Book Glutton is a web site that enables readers of ebooks to share their thoughts, and even have conversation with other readers through notations in the margins of the book.

Ebooks aren’t for everyone, but they do offer the possibility of a totally new reading experience that is perfect for some settings, such as assigned readings for school and book groups.   NPR has a nice post about Book Glutton and how one college professor  used Book Glutton to enhance discussion of their reading of King Lear.

Book Glutton makes me wonder if we aren’t seeing the kind of social features that will be appearing in future generations of ebook readers such as Kindle and Sony e-reader.

posting by jim

Librarian drill team – winner at ALA

The winner of this year’s Librarian Book Cart Drill Championships was announced yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered: Librarians Go Wild For Gold Book Cart.

Five teams of librarians competed dressed in costumes from Elvis Presley to Valkyrie for the coveted gold book cart.  The event’s emcees were children’s authors Mo Willems and Jon Scieszka.

“There’s a stereotype that librarians are boring. And I think they want to change that stereotype to ‘librarians are crazy,’ ” says Willems.

Be sure to watch the Bibliofiles of Austin perform last year’s entry.

via NPR.org

posting by Lorraine