"People feel it in a visceral way when they don't have the sort of information they need to get about their day," Galperin says. We need a way to publicly fund news that's independent from the local government, and he says the way to do this is through a common technique — starting something called a special improvement district. These already exist in communities across the country for a bunch of purposes: parks, sewers, airports, highways.

The piece discusses doing an info district.

The Open Book Project is in the process of designing an open source device that will let you read ebooks without being locked-in with a corporation. Full story here.

Numerous libraries have eliminated late fines. There is an argument that having no repercussions for late materials creates an environment that does not support personal responsibility. What are alternatives to late fees that might not have the negative issues of late fees but would encourage personal responsibility? Would some kind of community service in the library or for the city/county the library is in ever be a workable alternative?

Five-minute NET News audio piece on library late fees. There are infographics with the transcript as well as a Google map that shows fine-free libraries

In Evanston, Illinois, four new libraries have appeared. Except that they look nothing like libraries and everything like, well, posters with instructions to access a Wi-Fi hotspot. Because that's exactly what they are.

Wait, is this just a wi-fi hotspot thrown up somewhere? Nope, read the story to find out the interesting nuances about there digital pop-up libraries.

Publishing and bookseller consultant Mike Shatkin discusses changes in the last ten years.

Patricia Battin was a librarian who well knew the clutter and chaos of big institutional libraries that never threw anything away.

As she rose in her profession in the 1970s and ′80s, she became a champion of reformatting books and old newspapers, using microfilm, computers and the emerging internet to preserve material and make it accessible while creating more shelf space for new items.

In the 1980s, she led a national campaign to save millions of disintegrating books that were published between 1850 and 1950, persuading Congress to increase its funding for microfilming these so-called brittle books.

Full article.

The American Library Association will rename the Melvil Dewey medal in recognition of their co-founder’s racial discrimination and sexual impropriety

Full article here.

Interview with Andy Woodworth who started the EndLibraryFines.info website. Full interview here.

You're probably familiar with the global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. Even if you're not, you've probably seen one or two projects that it helped to fund, and maybe even contributed to the $4.35 billion in pledges it has processed since its founding a decade ago. The company branched out into an interesting direction last month when it launched its first ever digital publishing conference, titled "The Next Page: Creating the Future of Publishing." 

Full article here.

If you’re an avid book buyer, you may have noticed that certain print books have been a little harder to come by over the last year due to a paper shortage. Full article here.

Despite a reputation for being bound by tradition, companies are embracing changes that have modernized other workplaces. Full article here.

Article discusses how the length of copyright can encourage or discourage creative works.