Poetry Society Anticipates Centennial, NYPL Unveils New Logo, and More

by
Adrian Versteegh
11.12.09

Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today's stories:

Just shy of its centennial, the Poetry Society of America has rolled out a new Web site that features archival material, lectures by Frost Medalists, and articles culled from the journal Crossroads. The nonprofit, which is the country’s oldest poetry organization, will hold the latest installment of its PSA Spotlight Series tonight at the Los Angeles Public Library.

The New York Public Library’s iconic lion has been streamlined for digital scalability (New York Times).

Media baron Rupert Murdoch—whose properties include the Times of London and the Wall Street Journal—has said that he may block Google from indexing News Corp Web sites as part of a plan to begin charging readers for his newspapers’ online content (Guardian).

Theft charges have been laid against twelve library users in Maryland, each of whom is accused of checking out valuable textbooks and selling them to used bookstores (Associated Press).

Looking to expand its readership outside academe, Northumbia University Press has launched a new imprint that will focus on art, biography, music, photography, and travel (Bookseller).

The Hayward Public Library in California is set to test a Netflix-style scheme in which patrons can borrow a set number of items and keep them as long as they wish (Library Journal).

The two largest independent bookstores in Waynesville, North Carolina—Osondu Booksellers and Blue Ridge Books & Cafe—have merged and will consolidate at a new location within the next eighteen months (Smoky Mountain News).

AmazonEncore, a division of the online retailer that markets and distributes what it calls “exceptional yet overlooked books,” has picked up three titles originally released through the print-on-demand service BookSurge (Press Release).