I was once shown how to prepare a brand new book before reading it– it had something to do with opening the book at various places and smoothing down the pages. Supposedly it would make the binding last longer. Does this actually work, and if so, could anyone describe the process clearly? Any other advice on good book care and repair for this new librarian would be greatly appreciated.
posted by carterk on Oct 16, 2009 - 11 answers

I've taken responsibility for a very small children's library and I'd love your ideas for making it awesome. [more inside]
posted by serazin on Sep 3, 2009 - 14 answers

It's the end of the world and you have time to save one book. Which one will you save? [more inside]
posted by talkingmuffin on Jul 29, 2009 - 31 answers

Will be living between Joshua Tree and LA county for 3 months...how do I get a library card? [more inside]
posted by Jesus Malverde on Jul 6, 2009 - 12 answers

If you were building a library collection around the history of business—guilds, apprenticeships, royal charter companies, corporations, and so on—what books would you select?
posted by sonic meat machine on May 25, 2009 - 13 answers

Is there a website which let's you create a library of the books you own and sends updates to twitter when you post reviews or finish a book? I wish bookarmy.com would do it, because I like the site, but unfortunately it does not.
posted by mboesch on Apr 23, 2009 - 5 answers

Books about libraries, and books/essays about the future of them? [more inside]
posted by mrhaydel on Apr 13, 2009 - 13 answers

I'm trying to expand my reference library. What are your favorite inspiring books (the kinds with photos/artwork in them?) [more inside]
posted by actionpact on Apr 1, 2009 - 20 answers

I've been tasked with finding a bunch of books, and have author names and occasionally publisher, genre or topic. Some of the authors are academics and seem to have published mostly in journals or edited group anthologies. Hælp me you dominators of printed matter, how to find? [more inside]
posted by monocultured on Mar 22, 2009 - 7 answers

I'd like some suggestions for a place to keep track of family births and events, much like traditionally done in a family bible. Books are nice, but all media considered. Points given in three categories: potential longevity, flexibility of data handling, and style. [more inside]
posted by GPF on Feb 2, 2009 - 7 answers

Hey Librarians! Why is there a trailing zero on this Dewey number? [more inside]
posted by saguaro on Dec 20, 2008 - 8 answers

What is a normal rate for losing books from a school or public library? [more inside]
posted by bad grammar on Nov 8, 2008 - 10 answers

LibraryFilter: How do I look up a book's "category"? [more inside]
posted by ObscureReferenceMan on Sep 11, 2008 - 10 answers

Some publisher used to do a set of volumes of great works, supposedly quality bindings, via a "We'll send you another volume each month, and if you cancel, the edition of Moby Dick is yours to keep" model. Who was that? [more inside]
posted by bartleby on Sep 4, 2008 - 6 answers

I have some books I purchased online that are purportedly retired from their originating library's collection. How do I know if they are retired or on the lam? [more inside]
posted by jamaro on Aug 25, 2008 - 11 answers

Is there anything wrong with taking pictures of Library books and then posting said pictures to a blog? [more inside]
posted by inviolable on Aug 21, 2008 - 14 answers

What proportion of books in the library will never be opened again? [more inside]
posted by escabeche on Aug 7, 2008 - 29 answers

In the spirit of our local library's summer reading program, we've done a similar program of our own (since our children flew through the initial 1000 minutes of the library program). Help me find an appropriate educational-yet-awesome reward to give them for completing our contest! [more inside]
posted by AaronRaphael on Aug 6, 2008 - 10 answers

We have Netflix and Gamefly. I want to know if there is a Netbooks or Bookfly equivalent? [more inside]
posted by slavlin on Jul 1, 2008 - 20 answers

Is there any open-source book cataloging program, based on MS Access or another popular database, for personal use? [more inside]
posted by mjklin on Jun 22, 2008 - 5 answers

What materials should I use for labelling the spines of my books? [more inside]
posted by Flunkie on Apr 13, 2008 - 3 answers

Where to find those VERY large storybooks that children's librarians use for storytelling hours? I've searched for "large", "big" and "oversized" storybooks to no avail.
posted by jeanmari on Jan 15, 2008 - 9 answers

Where can I keep track, online, of my current list of books read/owned and books I want to read? [more inside]
posted by CwgrlUp on Jan 5, 2008 - 21 answers

Due to space restrictions, how do I bid farewell to my home library? [more inside]
posted by oldlies on Dec 15, 2007 - 36 answers

I want a set of Discworld bookends for my Terry Pratchett collection. I'm particularly interested in Death, as I already have a gift set with the Librarian and Rincewind. I'm having trouble even finding the bookends online, and shipping directly from the UK would be pretty expensive, as they're heavy (naturally) and I'm in Florida. Where to look? How to get the best deal? Any help from the hive mind would be greatly appreciated!
posted by misha on Nov 29, 2007 - 5 answers

LibraryFilter: What helps / hinders you in your use of the public library? [more inside]
posted by Rykey on Sep 29, 2007 - 77 answers

Best practices for library book sales? My librarian friend is hosting her first book sale (that is, she's free to run it differently than it has been run for years) and is looking for ideas to make it a fun, profitable and successful event. What kinds of things make a book sale really work? [more inside]
posted by MonkeyToes on Sep 24, 2007 - 12 answers

Is there a good English library in Tokyo? What about used bookstores? [more inside]
posted by rsk on Jun 14, 2007 - 10 answers

Library Books is a software program for the Mac OS X that tracks the books you have checked out from the library. Does anybody know of a similar software for the pc (windows)? Further description of the software inside. [more inside]
posted by hubs on Jun 11, 2007 - 6 answers

Avid readers: In twenty years, am I going to regret the fact that I only checked books out of the library, rather than amassing my own collection? I read about a book or two a week, and my budget could stand buying 3-4 used books a month.
posted by footnote on May 18, 2007 - 57 answers

I need to know which book-related web service/API is best (most complete archive, most up-to-date, most metadata) for looking up information about books given an ISBN-10 or ISBN-13. [more inside]
posted by basicchannel on Apr 17, 2007 - 10 answers

Which book would you consider a "universal" book? [more inside]
posted by Jaybo on Mar 14, 2007 - 57 answers

I need to catalogue my non-profit's library of books and videos. We want it to be accessible for students and faculty to easily see what we own and what is currently available for borrowing. I have been looking at LibraryThing, and am pretty impressed, but I can't see a way to incorporate our films, to give each item an id number, or to mark what is currently borrowed or available. Are there ways for me to do this, or would another site/software be better?
posted by arcticwoman on Dec 14, 2006 - 10 answers

If you could buy any computer book(s) or subscribe to any tech-related journal(s), what would it (they) be? [more inside]
posted by yellowbkpk on Dec 13, 2006 - 10 answers

Help! Book mites! I think I saw one today on a book and I fear that there are [more inside]
posted by waxbanks on Sep 20, 2006 - 3 answers

Can public library books harbor bacteria/virii/disease? [more inside]
posted by JFitzpatrick on May 18, 2006 - 20 answers

Can anyone recommend a good site for borrowing books online? Physical books I mean, not e-books. I've found Booksfree; are there any others out there?
posted by JanetLand on May 16, 2006 - 10 answers

Suggest practical and creative systems for reducing the number of books I own (rather long exposition inside). [more inside]
posted by matildaben on Feb 10, 2006 - 28 answers

How should I organize my personal library? [more inside]
posted by Eideteker on Jan 25, 2006 - 50 answers

In this metatalk thread I was trying to find a link to a media cataloging web app. What I am trying to do is take a text file of about 1,000 books, delimited by comma, and import it into one of these online social folksonomified library catalogs. Do you know of a free, friendly library web app that allows for importing of text files (I don't have the ISBN numbers, so that rules out LibraryThing) I also don't mind installing a php app, as long as it uses flat text files (it's for a friend who doesn't want to play with mysql)
posted by mecran01 on Oct 14, 2005 - 3 answers

O bibliophiles of MeFi: I humbly seek your wisdom. How would you clean the white linen cover of a fine hardcover? The book is 35 years old and in good shape, but the cover has grime, smudges, flecks, some yellowing: i.e., the usual buildup a reference volume would accrue over a few decades. I've tried mild soaps, but hesitate to use anything stronger. [more inside]
posted by rob511 on Sep 8, 2005 - 5 answers

My university library says I lost a book I know I returned. [more inside]
posted by oflinkey on Jul 6, 2005 - 18 answers

I am trying to track down a used copy of the Wine Handbook 2004. It is distributed by the Adams Beverage Group, and I cannot find a copy on Ebay, in my local library or even the Library of Congress. Can anyone help me?
posted by Irontom on Dec 7, 2004 - 4 answers

Librarianfilter: My girlfriend is "wondering if anyone could recommend good websites containing lists/reviews for educational books/videos/software for children (ages 5 up through high school)? I recently acquired the responsibility of selecting materials (I'm a librarian) for our University's Educational Resource Center and don't have an education background so I'm new to this. I know about the Parent's Choice Foundation. I was wondering if there is something similar for librarians/educators? I get tons of catalogs but want lists/reviews, preferably online. Thanks!"
posted by adamkempa on Oct 13, 2004 - 3 answers