A.O. Scott and David Carr talk on the Sweet Spot on books vs. ebooks

I'm a fan of the New York Times' Sweet Spot conversations/ video clips, and I'd like to recommend on last week's episode including a  great conversation between A.O. Scott and David Carr about the differences between paper books and ebooks. In addition you can learn what the good people working in the New York Times are reading these days!

You can check it out at http://nyti.ms/15Rmcyh

For more comparisons (this time green ones..) between ebooks and paper books visit our website at http://www.ecolibris.net/ebooks.asp 

Enjoy!
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Why the question now is when and not if Barnes and Noble will file for bankruptcy

In the last couple of years I started thinking B&N might file for bankruptcy because they have no strategy to transform their brick and mortar stores from a liability back to an asset. Now, after reading Julie Bosman's article 'The Bookstore’s Last Stand' on the New York Times, I'm more positive about it than ever.

Unfortunately after reading this article, I'm afraid the realistic question we need to ask is when B&N will go bankrupt and no if they'll actually do it. Here are five quotes from the article that will explain why:

1. "Mr. Lynch says Barnes & Noble stores will endure. The idea that devices like the Nook, Kindle and Apple iPad will make bookstores obsolete is nonsense, he says." - It's a 3-page article, yet you won't find there a word of explanation from CEO Lynch why its nonsense and how he plans to save his stores.

2. "For all the bells and whistles and high-minded talk, Barnes & Noble doesn’t exactly have the cool factor (or money) of, say, a Google or a Facebook." - Say no more. Do you really believe B&N can out-innovate Amazon and Apple with their very limited resources? I doubt that.

3. "Carolyn Reidy, president and chief executive of Simon & Schuster, says the biggest challenge is to give people a reason to step into Barnes & Noble stores in the first place. “They have figured out how to use the store to sell e-books," she said of the company. "Now, hopefully, we can figure out how to make that go full circle and see how the e-books can sell the print books.”" - She is right and I guess she also knows B&N haven't provided yet any good reason for most readers to step into their stores. I can only wonder if she believes they'll actually find a way to do it.

4. "And yet, in three years, he (William Lynch, CEO, B&N) has won a remarkable number of fans in the upper echelons of the book world. Most publishers in New York can’t say enough good things about him: smart, creative, tech-savvy — the list goes on." - It's definitely great to have a nice guy at the top of the pyramid, but with no answers on how to transform the stores back from a liability to an asset and with little vision on how to keep B&N in business, not to mention relatively poor results, Lynch needs less fans and more people that will tell you what he's doing wrong and how to fix it.

5. "No one expects Barnes & Noble to disappear overnight. The worry is that it might slowly wither as more readers embrace e-books." - two years ago no one in the media would even speculate such a thing. Now it has became a reasonable assumption, which shows you how high the probability that B&N will file for bankruptcy is.

To learn more on our B&N index series visit Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index on our website.

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!

The future of Independent bookstores (or: 5 comments on 'Small Bookstores Struggle for Niche in Shifting Times')

Julie Bosman wrote an interesting article (Small Bookstores Struggle for Niche in Shifting Times) on today's New York Times, on the search of Independent bookstores for the right ways to secure their future in times when even a giant bookseller like Borders finds it difficult.

The article was following the American Booksellers Association’s Sixth Annual Winter Institute last week, which was an opportunity for indie booksellers to "to learn, network, and just have fun". According to Bosman more than 500 independent booksellers debated their next step in this event.

The future of bookstores and especially independent bookstores (whose stores, according to the article, account for about 10% of the industry’s retail market overall) is one of the issues we're following and addressing for a long time, as we believe this would have an important influence on how the book industry will look like in the future.

Here are five thoughts on the issues brought up in the article (each comment starts with the relates quote from the article):

1. "At a workshop on Thursday, dozens of booksellers debated the finer points of alternative business models, like the addition of a cafe. Is it worth the trouble, one person asked? How do you figure out how much to charge for scones and lattes? And even if nonbook business attracts attention, how much profit will follow?“At a certain point, I begin to feel like we don’t need more P.R.,” said Roxanne Coady, the president and founder of R.J. Julia in Madison, Conn. “We need sales.”" - Roxanne Coady is right. Sales is the bottom line, but to get there indie bookstores need to provide customers with value. Value is what will eventually get customers back to stores and generate sales. Once this value was based on service and the sense of community. Apparently today this is not enough and there's need in ingredients to the 'value' indies provide.

Can coffee or vine sales be that ingredient? They can definitely help to strengthen the sense of community or be sort of a 'foot in the door' to get customers in the store, but then bookstores will have to start specialize in wine or coffee, which may not be easy at all. I'm not saying bookstores shouldn't sell more products other than books, but from a specialization point of view my estimate is that bookstores might do even better if they collaborate with the local wine or coffee shops, offering then coupons with special discounts on books for example, for their customers, and on vine/coffee for the bookstores' customers.

My feeling is that without a monetary incentive, the store's value won't be valuable enough for customers no matter what products they store will add.

2. "One challenge for booksellers, they said, was finding the balance between selling their core product without overwhelming it with the presence of coffee, baked goods, gifts and other merchandise." - True. I believe that some of the stores that will choose to focus on coffee, baked good, gifts and other merchandise will eventually find that they do well with these products and will become a coffee shop or a gift shop that also offers some books instead of a bookstore that offers coffee or some gifts.

3. "Naftali Rottenstreich, an owner of Red Fox Books in Glens Falls, N.Y., said it would be difficult to get customers to think of independents as places to buy books online.“The mindset right now is, that’s Amazon or that’s BarnesandNoble.com,” he said. “There’s a transformation that has to take place, and I think it will happen in time.”" - He's right. The problem is that even if this mindset will change then there's a small chance this platform will bring new customers to the stores. Online sales in their current settings won't help brick and mortar sales as it doesn't provide customers with any incentive to go to the stores and buy there books and therefore doesn't help the bookstores' owners in figuring out how to transform the stores back to an asset.

4. "“We know now that in the world of physical bookselling, bigness is no longer viewed as an asset,” said Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books, which has independent stores in South Florida, Westhampton Beach and the Cayman Islands. “It’s about selection and service and ambiance."" - I would rate them in this order: Ambiance, service, selection. Atmosphere is maybe the most important thing - if you go to a bookstore where the service is great, but the atmosphere is not very welcoming or you're feeling like you're in a book warehouse, or it's just not fun to be there, most chances are you won't come back. On the other hand, if you go to bookstores like Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, where you feel at home the minute you walk in, there's a pretty good chance you'll come again no matter what.

Service is also very important part of the value proposition of the store and shouldn't be ignored. When it comes to selection, it's a tough call because as an indie bookstore you will never be able to compete with Borders or B&N, not to mention Amazon, so maybe it should be about meeting a minimum level of selection to maximize the chance customers will actually find books they look for.

5. “We have to figure out how we stay in the game,” said Beth Puffer, the director of the Bank Street Bookstore in Manhattan. “You have to rethink your whole business model, because the old ways really aren’t going to cut it anymore.”" - I couldn't say it better myself. Finding the right strategy, focusing on the way to revive sales in the brick and mortar business, is key for success. Any bookstore that doesn't make it its first priority will be left behind and eventually go out of business, and it's true not just for independent bookstores, but also for the big chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders.

More related articles:

We love Greenlight Books but think they might be wrong about the future of independent bookstores

5 reasons why independent bookstores shouldn't count too much on Google Editions

Is there a future for Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores? Is it a green one?

Can monetary incentives + local benefits generate a brighter future for independent bookstores?

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

5 reasons why independent bookstores shouldn't count too much on Google Editions

Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Google "is in the final stages of launching its long-awaited e-book retailing venture, Google Editions, a move that could shake up the way digital books are sold" (more details in the video at the bottom).

According to the New York Times, "Google Editions will allow users to buy e-books from Google or from the Web sites of independent bookstores, which have yet to find a way to compete with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple on the electronic front."

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) reported that more than 200 independent booksellers could sign up. It looks like booksellers are happy about this new option that for many of them wasn't available until now. It's a great addition to independent bookstores, but we believe independent bookstores shouldn't cont too much on Google Editions. Here's why:

1. Competition with Google and other sellers - According to the WSJ, "users will be able to buy books directly from Google or from multiple online retailers—including independent bookstores". It makes sense that most ebook buyers will just google the title they want to purchase and then go to the first result they receive on their search or the cheapest one. None of these will probably be independent bookstores. This sort of competition with Google itself and other sellers with more internet and SEO expertise means that most traffic to the independent stores' websites will be from their own loyal customers.

2. Google has no real incentive to support sales in Independent stores - Google is making more money of each sale made directly from Google, as they need to share the revenue with the bookstores if the purchase is made through their website. Therefore, Google doesn't have a real incentive to support sales in the stores and won't help them to win more sales as it will be eventually on Google's account.

3. It won't help their brick and mortar sales - Google Editions may provide them with some more income, but still far from compensating for the continuing decline in sales at the stores. It doesn't provide customers with any incentive to go to the stores and therefore doesn't help the owners in figuring out how to transform the stores from a liability back into an asset.

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4. Amazon will fight back - The main threat here is to established retailers like Amazon that will surely fight back to keep its customers at Amazon.com. And when the fight is between Google, with no experience whatsoever in online retailing and the independent bookstores on its side and Amazon, maybe the most successful online retailer, I'm not sure if I'd put my money on Google.

5. It's too small to stop the bleeding - Cathy Langer, the lead book buyer for the Tattered Cover bookstores in Denver, told Julie Bosman of the New York Times she had been waiting for the introduction of Google Editions with "great anticipation." “I always say that indies need to be players in all parts of the game, so this is going to be great to bring us into the e-book game in a reasonable, affordable way,” she said. “We would like to make a little money off of it. But we have got to stop the bleeding.” She's right - the Google Editions is no more than a small bandage given the relatively small market share (yet) of ebooks and the small chance this platform will bring new customers to the store. For the independent bookstores, the search after the right bandage is still far from an end.

Google's long-awaited Google Editions online bookstore appears closer to coming online. Rex Crum talks with Amir Efrati of the Wall Street Journal about what Google's entry means for the online book market.

For more information on Google Editions see the WSJ video with Rex Crum talks with Amir Efrati of the Wall Street Journal about what Google's entry means for the online book market:

More related articles:

Is there a future for Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores? Is it a green one?, Eco-Libris Blog

Can monetary incentives + local benefits generate a brighter future for independent bookstores?, Eco-Libris Blog

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

What can change the way Amazon is dealing with environmental issues? Lessons from the Green Grades report and a NYT article

Last week Dogwood Alliance and ForestEthics published the 2010 Green Grades Office Supply Report Card. The goal of this report is to inform "American consumers and large purchasers of paper products on what companies are doing—or not doing—to safeguard the environment and the world’s forests."

This report is very important and reader-friendly and I warmly recommend to read it. But today we'll focus on just one of the companies presented in the report, which is a significant player in the book member. Yes, we're talking about Amazon.com.

So how Amazon.com did on the report? See for yourself:

As you can see, Amazon got the lowest grade in the mass market retail sector. Just to give you a perspective - Amazon got the lowest grade not just in its category but in the whole report. What's behind these Amazon's grade?

The report explains in further details:

Amazon.com does not have a meaningful paper policy or other basic safeguards and goals. Indeed, the company appears to have no problem with buying and selling paper from Endangered Forests and other controversial sources, including in the US South. Some Amazon.com subsidiaries are also using the SFI greenwash logo on their paper-based packaging, and Amazon.com has publicly expressed support for the SFI.

If you're wondering how Amazon did last year on the 2009 report - well, there are no big surprises - the company got an F. One change from last year, except of the slight better grade, is that last year it was reported that "The giant online retailer ignored our survey, so questions remain about their paper sourcing practices." This year there was no mention of such behavior, so I can only assume that Amazon did cooperate this year.

Amazon's grade doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who is watching Amazon's behavior when it comes to environmental issues, whether it's is paper policy or transparency regarding the Kindle's carbon footprint. In all, the company doesn't really care much about these issues.

So it got me wondering - what can possibly change the way Amazon.com is dealing with environmental issues? What can make Amazon care about it? And only couple of days passed by before I got a hint from a New York Times article.

The article (Packaging Is All the Rage, and Not in a Good Way) was about how Amazon is trying to get manufacturers to make packages easier to open, hoping to reduce consumer “wrap rage.” It was very interesting as I learned from the article that Amazon is trying to promote packaging solutions that have environmental benefits (for example, using less packaging materials). How come? Very simple - it wasn't about the environment at all.

There are two reasons Amazon was promoting alternative packaging solutions (frustration-free packaging options) to the products it sells. The first one is that they receive a lot of complains from customers on the current packaging, where "“you’ve got a ton of packaging and a ton of work ahead of you". Customers simple hate it and find it unjustified, so they write their complains to Amazon. And Amazon doesn't like customers that are not happy, even if it's not its fault as the manufacturers are the ones responsible for the products' packaging.

The second one is because “it’s such a win-win proposal,” as Nadia Shouraboura, vice president for global fulfillment at Amazon explained in the article. And again, he didn't refer to the environmental benefits - he referred to the facts that these packages that are more user-friendly (it's easier to open them) and actually cost less to the manufacturers.

So what do we have here? simply a combination of two elements - customers that care and aren't satisfied with the current way things are done and win-win solutions. Is it enough for Amazon to generate "green" solutions? The beauty here, as well as in other cases, that "green" is embedded in these solutions - you talk about saving materials or more efficient packaging and you're actually talking about green solutions, just without mentioning the word "green".

So the bottom line is that maybe we don't need to look on ideas how to make Jeff Bezos and other Amazon's executives more empathetic to environmental issues - it may take forever. Maybe the shorter and better way is to motivate Amazon's customers to act and voice their concerns and also come up with win-win solutions for Amazon. Then you might see suddenly how Amazon's executives start looking for alternatives with environmental added value. Otherwise don't be surprised if next year the company that will receive the lowest grade in the Green Grades report will be again no other than Amazon.com.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Five places where it is better to use a Kindle than a book (pool not included)

Amazon cut last Thursday the cost of the Kindle to $139. On the New York Times article about the $139 “Kindle Wi-Fi", Jeff Bezos was quoted saying:

“At $139, if you’re going to read by the pool, some people might spend more than that on a swimsuit and sunglasses."

I went today to the pool and didn't see there with a Kindle, but on the other hand saw many people reading physical books. It makes sense - if your book gets wet, it's unpleasant but it will get dry eventually. I'm not sure you can say that about the Kindle if it gets wet..

So, it got me thinking - which are the places it's better to have a Kindle (or iPad or Nook) with you and not just good old physical books? I came up with 5 places:

1. Vacation - books are heavy, what can we say. So with all airlines that will happily charge you for overweight baggage, taking the Kindle is no brainer. More room for some clothes and of course for gifts! And we shouldn't forget that a lighter flight has a smaller carbon footprint :)

2. Picnic - Somehow I got a feeling that when a chorizo falls on your Kindle, with all the ketchup and mustard in the world, it will be easier to clean it than a book and it also won't smell like a chorizo for the next couple of weeks. Also, people don't really know what you're reading, so there's a better chance you won't be disturbed with questions like: "Ah, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, that's an interesting name - what is it about?"

3. Party - Who brings a book to a party anyway? But if you got yourself to a boring party and you can't run away, the Kindle can be your saver, helping you to pass the time in a meaningful way without showing too much your lack of interest in the party. If caught, you can always say you were just checking your email.

4. Subway/Bus - At least if you're one of those who don't like others to know what they're reading. Another condition is that you're not one of those who fall asleep on the subway/bus and drop whatever they hold on the floor..

5. Restroom - Some people might disagree, but isn't it time to throw all the books and magazines stacked in your little restroom and just have some quiet reading time with your Kindle? Just make sure to keep the experience as hygienic as possible!

If you have any other places to add to the list please feel free to add your comment!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting   sustainable reading!

Why organic foods wish they were e-Books

The short answer? because this way they'll get a front page coverage every week on the New York Times. The long answer? here we go.

I opened the New York Times this morning and found an article on the front page about books' covers in the digital age (In E-Book Era, You Can’t Even Judge a Cover by Motoko Rich). Now, this was a great article and the subject is very interesting. What's even more interesting is the fact that the New York Times publish almost every week an article (at least one) on the front page of the newspaper or the front page of the business section on e-books.

So it got me thinking , why they write so much on e-books? why not organic foods for example? I mean, I've got nothing against e-books. On the contrary, I see a great potential in them to make the book industry more sustainable. Still, I can show you that if you compare e-books to organic foods, organic foods easily win, just not when it comes to front page coverage on the New York Times.

Now, just to be clear. It's not just the New York Times. If you check searches on Google in the last month, you find that 'e-Books' has received 60,100,000 searches last month (or 127,000,000 if you write it in one word - ebooks). On the other hand, 'organic food' has received 1,020,000 searches, or 442,000 if you write it as 'organic foods'. It's totally clear that everyone is more excited about e-books. So why do I think organic foods should get at least similar attention? check out this comparison I made:

Factor	e-Books	Organic Foods
Relevance	Book readers	Everyone (we all have to eat, right?)
Market share	Less than 2% (2009 figures)	3.5% (2008 figures)
Sales	$240 Million (J.P. Morgan estimate)	$24.6 Billion (2008 figures)
Potential penetration	5.8% of the market / $1.25 Billion (2013 est.)	5-10% of the market (Organic Trade Association, 2006b)
Heroes	Steve Jobs	Chef Jamie Oliver, Michele Obama, Michael Pollan
Interesting stories	The Launch of iPad	New reality show – the Naked Chef wants to save America from its own fatness
Conflicts	Amazon vs. Apple	Big Ag vs. Michelle Obama’s garden
On the radar of VC funds	Not really	Yes (as seen at Agriculture 2.0)
Cool Stuff	iPad	Vertical Farms Project, Greenhorns
Change factor	Change the way we read	Change the way we eat

So, what's missing? how come e-Books still win? I guess the only factor that organic foods are missing is the hype factor. Somehow e-Books are more exciting than organic milk or free-range eggs? or maybe it's just the media pumping up our excitement because they think we think it's cool, so eventually we really think it's cool.. Anyway, no matter what this magic ingredient is, I'm sure the organic foods producers and retailers would love to have it!

What do you think? Why e-Books get so much attention? Feel free to add your comment.

You can read more interesting articles on e-Books vs. physical books and the future of publishing on our website.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting Sustainable Reading!

On the pricing of ebooks and why publishers want readers to pay more

Motoko Rich wrote a very interesting article yesterday on the New York Times, presenting the costs involved in producing books and comparing the revenues publishers make from hardcover books and ebooks.

The data presented in the article was simplified and based on rough averages, but the bottom line was quite surprising: publishers can make even more money of e-books priced at $12.99 than they make on hardcovers priced at $26. And not only that, but even with a price tag of $10 for an e-book, the revenues are quite similar to those made of hardcovers.

Here are the profit figures (before overhead):
For a hardcover book with a list price of $26: $4.05
For an e-book, consumer price $12.99: $4.56-5.54
For an e-book, consumer price $9.99: $3.51-4.26

So, it definitely makes sense to see publishers fighting to sell e-books in $12.99, or even up to $14.99, instead of $9.99, as we saw in the case of McMillan and Amazon, and as we learn from the negotiations of the big publishers with Apple on the sales of e-books on the iPad. But it seems that publishers don't feel too comfortable to base their willingness to see higher pricing of e-books just on a pure economic basis (aka making more profits), so they are presenting another reason why e-books shouldn't be sold in lower prices: The implications on bookstores.

The article explains:

Another reason publishers want to avoid lower e-book prices is that print booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Borders and independents across the country would be unable to compete. As more consumers buy electronic readers and become comfortable with reading digitally, if the e-books are priced much lower than the print editions, no one but the aficionados and collectors will want to buy paper books.

“If you want bookstores to stay alive, then you want to slow down this movement to e-books,” said Mike Shatzkin, chief executive of the Idea Logical Company, a consultant to publishers. “The simplest way to slow down e-books is not to make them too cheap.”

This is definitely a better cause than just making more money, but is it really the story here? does it really matter to the publishers if their books are sold on BN.com or on one of Barnes & Noble 777 bookstores? I don't think so. Somehow it looks more reasonable that their own good and business success are the first priority when pricing is at stake.

Just take a look at the statement John Sargent, Macmillan USA's CEO, has issued on the Amazon deletion of an appreciable fraction of all of English literature from its store. He writes the following:

In the ink-on-paper world we sell books to retailers far and wide on a business model that provides a level playing field, and allows all retailers the possibility of selling books profitably. Looking to the future and to a growing digital business, we need to establish the same sort of business model, one that encourages new devices and new stores. One that encourages healthy competition. One that is stable and rational. It also needs to insure that intellectual property can be widely available digitally at a price that is both fair to the consumer and allows those who create it and publish it to be fairly compensated.

As you can see,there's no word there about the current bookstores and their survival in the digital age. It's true that higher prices can help smaller retailers, but I still don't think that's what's on the publishers mind when they negotiate the pricing.

In all, we still have to remember that e-books represent only 3%-5% of the market and will take sometime before they'll have a significant market share. Nevertheless, the digital era is here and the publishing industry is changing. Business models are changing. And those who won't know how to adopt to these changes, whether they're bookstores or publishers, will find themselves eventually lagging behind.

And what about the green element? Well, I believe that going green will be part of the new business model for anyone involved in the book industry. As we mentioned here many before, many of the components that don't work well in the current model are also not eco-friendly (for example, the fact that 25% of the books that are printed are not sold and returned to the publisher by booksellers).

Many other components, such as using virgin paper that is responsible for the larger part of the books' footprint will make less and less sense from an economic point of view with the expected regulation that will put a price tag on carbon emissions and with the growing demand of readers for eco-friendly alternatives. The bottom line is that making your business more sustainable is equal in the book industry to making it more economically viable, no matter if it's a hardcover book or an e-book that you're publishing or selling.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Check out our green gift giveaway!

The BookCrossing adventures of Michelle Slatalla

Michelle Slatalla is one of my favorite writers at the New York Times and it's always a delight to read her column Cyberfamilias every other Thursday (Fashion & Style section).

Last week I was in Chicago, so I missed her column, but I looked for it today on the NYT website and was very happy to find another great Cyberfamilias story, this time on her BookCrossing adventures.

I wrote few months ago about BookCrossing and recommended this great free book club. Michelle Slatalla also got into it and tries to see how it actually works - who will take the books she releases to the wild and where she can hunt some books.

One thing I learned from the article was that I can find on YouTube some videos documenting book releasing into the wild around the world. Here's one example to what you can see there:




So check out 'Love That Book? Then Set It Free' and don't forget to experiment some book swapping of your own.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

The pope calls on Christmas Mass to protect the environment

Today is Christmas, and I was happy to read on the New York Times ('Pope Makes Appeal to Protect the Environment') that Pope Benedict XVI talked on the midnight Christmas Mass about the environment and expressed his concerns of the way we're treating the planet.

Ian Fisher of the NYT reports that "Benedict referred to one early father of the church, Gregory of Nyssa, a bishop in what is now Turkey. “What would he say if he could see the state of the world today, through the abuse of energy and its selfish and reckless exploitation?” the pope asked."

It's not the first time the pope expresses his concerns over the environment and actually he is speaking more and more about the need to go green and use our natural resources more sustainably. I hope the pope will continue in his efforts to bring more attention to green issues, as he's definitely a powerful agent of change that can lead many people to go green.

Happy green holidays,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

Green Holidays - the discussion

December started today and it's time to see how we can make the holidays greener. Eco-Libris blog will bring you this month tips, ideas and thoughts that will hopefully inspire us all to enjoy joyous holidays, but with a smaller impact on the environment.

A good place to start with is the discussion about the concept of green holidays, which I found in a very interesting article on the New York Times last Sunday. Alex Williams brought in this article (Jolly and Green, With an Agenda) many aspects of what can be done and how it should be done to make the holidays greener.

This article shows you the progress that green thinking has made toward mainstream America. It also shows you what a long road is ahead of us before the majority will embrace green and make it inseparable from the holidays.

So check it out. Definitely a mind-provoking article (btw - you will find a book mentioned in the article that was reviewed here a couple of days ago). And don't forget to follow our blog this month for more posts on green holidays.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

The valley of books

I learned about it firstly from the excellent blog of Larry Portzline, Friends of Indie Bookstores USA The National Council on Bookstore Tourism. Then I ran to open the New York Times and read Roger Mummert's article 'In the Valley of the Literate'.

Mummert bring us the story of Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, which is a paradise for every avid reader - plenty of independent bookstores, many literature events every day and even loads of authors that live next by ("The Pioneer Valley is arguably the most author-saturated, book-cherishing, literature-celebrating place in the nation. ")

And now there's even more - the valley is in the midst of a five-month festival call BookMarks: A Celebration of the Art of the Book. “BookMarks celebrates the valley’s rich literary pedigree going back to Emily Dickinson, and a plethora of writers live here today,” said Tony Maroulis, of Museums10, a consortium of local museums that sponsors the festival.

I read it and wanted to get immediately on the road and visit all of the places mentioned in the article. I think it's great to see such an area where independent bookstores thrive and literature prosper.

So please check out the article as well as the slideshow on the NYT site that brings you the sights of this unique area.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!

Mooching books has never been easier

The source of today's post is again the New York Times, where I find new treasures every day. This time it's BookMooch, an online community for exchanging used books.

Joanne Kaufman wrote last Monday on the NYT ('Clear the Bookshelf and Fill It Up Again, All Online') about BookMooch, " a book-swapping Web site created a year and a half ago by John Buckman, a bibliophile who describes himself as a “wealthy ex-dot-com person.”"

The concept is very simple - BookMooch lets you give away books you no longer need in exchange for books you really want. Buckman created a system based on points, where according to the site "every time you give someone a book, you earn a point and can get any book you want from anyone else at BookMooch. Once you've read a book, you can keep it forever or put it back into BookMooch for someone else, as you wish." And yes, it's totally free.

Book swapping is a great concept: you can find books you are looking for at no cost, give books you want others to enjoy and of course benefit the environment. It's the same idea as with library - maximizing the usage of every printed book minimizes the need to print new ones and saves many trees from being cut down.

Don't get me wrong - we don't want people to stop buying new books, but as long as books are printed mostly from virgin paper, we would like to see maximum usage for each printed copy. Therefore, we think the concept of book swapping is definitely a way to green up on your reading and make it more sustainable.

BookMooch is not the only book swapping website (The list includes also SwapTree.com, TitleTrader.com, SF-Books.com, tbxn.com for textbooks and others), but what differentiates BookMooch from the others is according to Buckman " its neighborly feel. “If someone has been especially nice, very explicit about the condition of the books they’ve sent out, you can give them a ‘smooch,’ which is an anonymous thank-you gift of one of your points,” he said. Members can also donate their points to selected charities — New Orleans libraries, for example, which are restocking their shelves in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.""

BookMooch looks like a great website, we recommend to check it out. I haven't used it yet, but I intend to do so in the near future. I won't be there alone it has already 40,000 members around the world and according to Buckman, who by the way runs BookMooch by himself, 300 new people are joining every day. Participants The “library” has some 750,000 titles, and Buckman estimates it will hit one million by the end of December.

Enjoy BookMooch,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Outdoor reading in the big apple

Summer is almost gone (I know, it's terrible even to think about it..), but the NYT brings us a great piece about one of the summer's greatest pleasures - outdoor reading.

Well, what can be better than enjoying a good book and a great weather at the same time? New York has many great places to read outside, from well-known Central Park to many others less known, such as Carl Schurz Park on the Upper East Side.

I learned from the article about NYC's Bryant Park Reading Room, a spot located behind the New York Public Library, which has been reopened in 2003, after it was closed for almost 60 years. It was opened originally in 1935: the New York Public Library opened the “Open Air Library” to give these out-of-work businessmen and intellectuals a place to go where they did not need money, a valid address, a library card, or any identification to enjoy the reading materials.).

The Bryant Park Corporation has repeated history by recreating the Bryant Park Reading Room. It is modeled after the original with the additions of custom-designed carts for an extensive and eclectic selection of books, periodicals and newspapers. Certainly worth a visit!

The article is not only worth reading because of all the interesting stories about people that like to read in public and their favorite spots, but also because lines like these ones:

"Reading is a solitary pursuit, even a lone passage to a separate world. Yet to read in public, amid strangers, gives it another dimension. Sometimes the city speaks to the page, or the page seems to open up to people passing by. An outdoor reader shares the pulse of a timeless urban conversation between the world and the written word."
Link to the article - On the Outdoor Book Tour, the Word Is Spreading.

So grab a book and get outside. and enjoy reading outdoors while you still can :-)

Raz

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!