SF Library Offers Amnesty to Tardy Book Borrowers

Drug-Users Union aims to give marginalized a political voice

(NEWSER) - San Francisco is a union town, so why not a union for…drug users? The San Francisco Drug-Users Union has been formed with $35,000 from the Drug Policy Alliance to give the addled a say in local government, a move that has also been taken in other big cities like Vancouver and New York. This is “a set of folks who don’t have a say in policies that have a direct impact on them,” a DPA official tells SF Weekly . More»

(NEWSER) - An Arizona high school librarian got the surprise of her career when she opened a package and found a letter from a former student, two books checked out in 1958—and a money order for $1,000 to cover the overdue-book fines. The books, Community of Living Things: Forests and Woodlands and Field and Meadows, accidentally moved to Colorado with the student's family when they left Phoenix suddenly. The library will put them on display with the letter. More»

Search king accused of rewriting copyright law to get access to out-of-print works

(NEWSER) - Google's plan to take millions of "orphan" books under its wing has critics crying foul, the New York Times reports. Google aims to make these out-of-print works—whose rights holders are unknown or cannot be found—part of its mammoth online bookstore and library, a plan some academics say will give the search king an unbeatable advantage over any rival. More»

Restocked ethics tome to be dedicated to Sully

(NEWSER) - Hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger's local library has told him not to worry about a borrowed book stuck in the hold of US Airways Flight 1549 that crashed in the Hudson River, AP reports. After he contacted the library to ask for an extension, the staff not only waived all overdue and replacement fees, but will dedicate the restocked volume to Sullenberger. Its subject? Professional ethics. More»

Even amid budget cuts, the institutions are expanding offerings

(NEWSER) - As the economy lightened wallets last year, people in search of jobs and entertainment turned to a long-lost concept called a library, reports the Washington Post, spiking DC-area circulation by 23% in the last half of 2008. And although budget cuts are hitting libraries hard, they're still finding ways to go digital. More»