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International library news

EBSCO buys YBP Library Services from Baker & Taylor

Library service provider EBSCO has acquired YBP Library Services from Baker & Taylor, which has owned the company since 1999, reports Publishers Weekly. YBP offers library workflow solutions and a range of acquisition and metadata resources to academic, research and special libraries around the world. ‘YBP is recognized in the market as the leader at what they do,’ said EBSCO president Tim Collins in a statement. ‘We are in a position to help their progress and expedite their vision, and we are looking to continue their operations and partnerships with publisher and aggregator platforms.’

Library use up in Taipei in 2014

Taiwan’s Taipei Public Library has recorded an increase in the number of books borrowed in Taipei libraries in 2014, reports Focus Taiwan. The total number of titles borrowed in 2014 was 12.79 million, up from 11.74 million in 2013, with readers borrowing on average 5.2 books per person. Women made up 55.3% of the total number of borrowers, with borrowing most popular among men and women aged 41-50. Of the 20 most borrowed literature titles, 16 were Chinese translations of English or Japanese texts, including Before I go to Sleep (S J Watson, Text), ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy (Suzanne Collins, Scholastic), The Book Thief (Marcus Zusack, Picador) and novels by Japanese author Keigo Higashino. Nearly half of the most borrowed nonfiction titles were translations of English or Japanese works, including Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow (Penguin) and Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie (Hachette).

US library to create internet privacy education platform

The San Jose Public Library in California has received a grant to create an all-ages internet privacy education platform, reports the Mercury News. The platform will provide users with a ‘footprint’ tool based on their level of comfort in sharing information online, and will include a ‘gaming’ element via a partnership with the San Jose State University’s game development club. The library’s community programs administrator Erin Berman described the platform as an interesting and fun privacy education tool. ‘We’ve been going through a lot of privacy apps and they’re not that exciting,’ said Berman, adding that internet privacy is an important issue for many of the library’s users. The project is funded by the Knight Foundation, which supports ‘transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts’.

 

Category: Library news