Compostable Library Cards?

The San Francisco Public Library will soon be handing out EcoCards - library cards made of compostable corn. See below for more information. Also, they have a very cool green stacks section on their website. Check it out at: http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/green/




For a product that most often makes its way into San Francisco's attention span due to tortilla tossing, attacks on trans-fats, and, of course, unfortunate fecal jokes, corn is damn near ubiquitous. The good folks at Corn Products International boast you can use the tooth-jamming vegetable for everything "from fruit juices to frozen foods ... antibiotics to adhesives ... baked goods to beers ... paper to pet foods." Garrison Keillor, meanwhile, has declared sweet corn to be more pleasurable than sex.

And yet, no one has ever had the bright idea of making library cards out of corn -- until now. The San Francisco Public Library will start handing out compostable corn "EcoCards"; put that in your (corn cob) pipe and smoke it!

Our landfills are not overflowing with plastic library cards -- San Franciscans are neither that literate nor wasteful -- but, in an effort to be more environmentally responsible the library will next month kick off a test program featuring a run of 15,000 corn cards (the library usually hands out 60,000 cards yearly, so these may last a little while).

Fans of plastic need not despair -- you'll still have the option of getting regular cards (mine has crayon lightning drawn on it and was designed by a fourth-grader named Wing). But, if you agree to answer a few question over the next six months or so, the librarian will hand you the rather nondescript corn card.

"We want to know how it works in your wallet and what happens if it gets wet," says library spokeswoman Michelle Jeffers. Since the card is not laminated -- it wouldn't be compostable that way -- Jeffers isn't sure if sweat-inducing sprints to make the Muni will cause the corn card to chip and leave you smelling like the Frito Bandito.

She also notes that it would be counter-productive for eco-conscious San Franciscans to gleefully throw away their plastic cards so they can flaunt their "EcoCards." The newfangled devices will only be issued to first-time customers or those who have lost their old cards and are willing to pay for a new one.

Of course, the road to hell is paved with good intentions -- which now adhere to green building practices -- and well-meaning environmental moves don't always help. Sometimes, they even hurt.

To wit, Jeffers promised to get back to us on the following queries:

Where is the corn grown that these cards are produced from? Is it sustainably farmed, or are massive amounts of nasty pesticides and fertilizers involved?

How much energy does it take to create and transport these cards as opposed to the traditional cards? Moreover, is there a significant cost difference?

How many people can be realistically expected to compost a library card? Can it be composted by burying it in the backyard or, like "compostable plastic bags" does it require special conditions that can only be achieved in city-maintained compost piles?

How long must a corn card last to be energy effective compared with plastic cards that last until Kingdom Come?

If every San Franciscan simultaneously threw out his or her library card, how much space would it take up? More or less than a refrigerator?

Is an EcoCard strong enough to fit on a keychain like the plastic cards? And why can't I get cool kids' drawings on my EcoCard?



From: The Snitch

Town names streets after Terry Pratchett's Discworld books

Author visits Somerset town to unveil roads which take their names from his fantasy series.

If you go down to Wincanton in Somerset today you can wander down Peach Pie Street and Treacle Mine Road, named after Sir Terry Pratchett's fantasy series Discworld.

Pratchett visited the town today to unveil the road names at a new housing estate, and was greeted by hundreds of fans – many dressed in costume.

Wincanton was twinned with the city of Ankh-Morpork from the novels in 2002, becoming the first UK town to link with a fictional place.

The builder of the Kingwell Rise development, George Wimpey, asked locals to vote for their favourite road name from a shortlist of 14 suggested by Pratchett.

Pratchett said: "I think it's a lovely idea, even though it makes my head spin to think of the books becoming a little closer to reality.

"And they are nice names, even though I say it myself.

"Personally, I'd pay good money to live somewhere called Treacle Mine Road."

Colin Winder, former mayor of Wincanton, said: "The association with Discworld works extremely well for our town, helping to boost the local economy.

"I even know of three families who moved to Wincanton because of this quirky connection.

"It is wonderful that the roads at Kingwell Rise have been named in this way and it certainly beats the dedications to local dignitaries and village worthies that we usually see."

Pratchett announced in December 2007 that he had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease and has since campaigned to raise awareness of the condition.

He has sold more than 55 million books worldwide and has had his works translated into 33 languages.

Richard Goad, regional sales and marketing director for George Wimpey, said: "With Wincanton's well-established links with Ankh-Morpork it seemed fitting to name the roads at Kingwell Rise after places in Discworld."

• This article was amended on Monday 6 April 2009. Above we said Peace Pie when we should have said Peach Pie. This has been amended.

From: the Guardian

Libraries criticised for playing music

Libraries, once guaranteed havens of peace and quiet in which to read and study, are sweeping aside the golden rule of silence in favour of playing music to attract more customers.

Visitors to a county's libraries must now endure pop music being played as managers seek to boost the appeal of their services to younger users.

The libraries in Gloucestershire are equipped with sound systems to provide background music because "libraries are not just about books anymore", organisers of the scheme claim.

However, the move has been condemned as "totally inappropriate" by critics, who believe that libraries are the last bastion of hush in an increasingly noisy world.

Doraine Potts, a former Oxford University languages lecturer, is campaigning for the the scheme to be abolished.

The 76-year-old, of Woodmancote, Cheltenham, said she visited her local library in nearby Bishops Cleeve, to discover that music by the Sugababes was blaring out over its PA system.

She said "I was trying to choose a book in my local library but I just couldn't concentrate. That's how loud it was - the beat was just thumping away.

"It was totally inappropriate for a library.

"When homes are filled with pop music and youngsters walk around with their ears glued to iPods is it too much to ask for libraries to remain dedicated to reading?

"It's great to encourage youngsters to read but loud music impedes people from doing that."
Gloucestershire Libraries Service confirmed that it is offering music in four of its 39 branches, including Bishops Cleeve, Longlevens, Dursley and Cirencester.

However, a spokeswoman described the service as "quiet background music".

She said: "Bishops Cleeve is a popular and lovely library and it has been very busy since we introduced music.

"There is a sound system there which plays quiet background music and the majority of visitors enjoy the atmosphere.

"When asked, staff are happy to turn down the sound if it is disturbing visitors.

"Libraries are not just about books any more."

Nigel Rodgers, national secretary of the Pipe Down Campaign, which lobbies for more repose in public buildings, said: "A library should be a place of peace in an increasingly noisy world."

From: the Telegraph

Kite Runner joins gay penguins on Top 10 books Americans want banned

ALA's 'most challenged' books of 2008 include Khaled Hosseini's bestseller alongside perennial betes noires His Dark Materials and And Tango Makes Three
by: Alison Flood

Khaled Hosseini has joined the illustrious ranks of Philip Pullman and the authors of a story about gay penguins, after his novel The Kite Runner became one of the books that inspired most complaints in America last year.

The bestselling and critically acclaimed title, the story of a 12-year-old Afghan and his betrayal of his best friend, includes the rape of a boy, and provoked challenges in the US over what objectors saw as sexual content and offensive language. Some objections led to the removal of the book from library shelves, while others saw it replaced with bowdlerised versions minus the offending scenes, according to the American Library Association, which compiles an annual list of the most challenged titles in the country.

Topping this list in 2008 was, for the third year running, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's And Tango Makes Three, a children's book about two male penguins who bring up an orphaned chick. Based on a newspaper story the authors saw about a zookeeper who noticed two of his penguins trying to hatch a stone, the book was criticised for being pro-gay, anti-religion and anti-family.

"Books that address same-sex parenting, or same-sex relationships, are particularly prone to challenges in the US," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA's office for intellectual freedom, which has collected information on challenged books for the last 20 years. "In the case of And Tango Makes Three, there are many parents who believe it inappropriate to teach children anything at all about homosexual relationships, even in the form of a picture book about a true story."

Another stalwart of the ALA's list, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, rose to second place overall in 2008 from fourth the previous year, distressing challengers over its political viewpoint, religious viewpoint and violent scenes. Last year Pullman said his immediate reaction on hearing the news was "glee". "They never learn," he said. "The inevitable result of trying to ban something – book, film, play, pop song, whatever – is that far more people want to get hold of it than would ever have done if it were left alone. Why don't the censors realise this?"

Caldwell-Stone said the film of The Golden Compass, based on the first novel in Pullman's trilogy, had renewed attacks on the sequence from Catholic pressure groups. "In many cases school boards reacted precipitously and removed it – then a few weeks later they returned it to the shelves," she said.

This year, challengers appeared to be focusing their efforts on more recent releases, with Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which had drawn criticism for racism), Alice Walker's The Color Purple (challenged for sexual content, homosexual content and offensive language) and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (sexual content) all dropping out of the top 10 after riding high last year.

The ALA recorded 513 challenges in 2008, up from 420 in 2007. The ALA defines a challenge as "a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed or restricted because of content or appropriateness". It estimates that as few as one in five challenges are actually reported. "We believe this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Caldwell-Stone.

Seventy-four books were actually removed from shelves following challenges last year, the ALA said, ranging from Jodi Picoult's bestselling novel My Sister's Keeper, pulled for its sexually explicit content, to Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which includes references to masturbation. Alexie's comments at the time echoed Pullman's, with the author telling local press that "the amazing thing is these banners never understand they are turning this book into a sacred treasure. We don't write to try and be banned, but it is widely known in the [young adult] world, we love this shit."

"While not every book is right for each reader, every reader has the right to choose reading materials for themselves and their families and should be able to find those materials in libraries, classrooms, and bookstores. Our goal is to protect one of our most precious fundamental rights - our freedom to read," said Caldwell-Stone.

The ALA celebrates all banned and challenged books every year with Banned Books Week, founded by Judith Krug, a tireless anti-censorship campaigner who died last week after a long illness, aged 69. Often quoted as saying that "censorship dies in the light of day", Krug was the director of the ALA's office for intellectual freedom and executive director of its Freedom to Read Foundation for more than 40 years.

"Judith had an abiding faith in the power of 'the community of the book' – she was convinced that when librarians, publishers, booksellers, and authors stand together in defence of intellectual freedom we are unstoppable. She believed in our obligation to take on that fight wherever and whenever it arose, and more often than not she led the charge," said Judith Platt, president of the Freedom to Read Foundation. "She considered librarianship to be the highest of callings and there is an entire generation of librarians out there whose commitment to intellectual freedom was forged and shaped by Judith Krug."

The ALA's top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008 in full:

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

2. His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, violence

3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R series by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

4. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz
Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, violence

5. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, violence

6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group

7. Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

8. Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
Reasons: homosexuality, unsuited to age group

9. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

10. Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper
Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

From: the Guardian

Sudbury library closes book on teens

Sudbury library closes book on teens.
by: Ed Veilleux for Sun Media

SUDBURY — Reading might be one of the three Rs taught in schools, but a new public library policy will make it harder for students to read outside of school.

As of this week, teens are no longer allowed in the Greater Sudbury Public Library on MacKenzie Street during school hours.

The new policy came about in an attempt to deal with problems the library has recently encountered, according to a library manager.

"It's something we're doing right now to kind of take back our library," Claire Zuliani, manager of libraries and heritage resources, said.

"We've had a number of teens come in here during the day who are quite disruptive. They have little respect for our property and our staff. To the point where some of our staff are afraid to come to work."

Sudbury Secondary student Kyle Chapados says although he can see why the policy is in place, there has to be a better way to deal with it.

"I can see where they're coming from, they're just trying to nip it in the bud," he said.

"But it's not fair to the rest. How many were really causing these problems? There seems like there could be a better way of dealing with it than just banning all students."

Zuliani said the problems had gone far enough, and that crime was a factor in setting the new policy.

"We've had kids break into cars. One of our staff members had her car broken into. They're very belligerent with us."

Staff aren't the only ones complaining about the "disruptive" troublemakers, she said.

"We've had a number of complaints from patrons, who come in here to mind their own business and do their own thing, because the teens are just disruptive."

Zuliani admits that some students are in the library for positive reasons, such as doing their homework or to read, but there are a "number of groups" that use the library as a "hangout."

"They're not going to class for whatever reason," she said. "We just feel that they should be in school. Most of the kids who are here right now, the bulk of them, they're not here to use the library. It's just a hangout for them."

Zuliani hopes this policy will show the disruptive teens the importance of respect.

"My goal is that hopefully the kids that are being disruptive will learn what is and what isn't appropriate behaviour. And at that point, when they conduct themselves in an appropriate way, they will be welcomed back here, as well."

Those using the library in a respectful manner will be allowed back in, Zuliani said.

"Those kids who are coming here to do their work, if they have a spare, they'll be allowed back in."

Zuliani insists that the exclusion of troublemaking students will help create a welcoming atmosphere for the public.

"We just want the public library to be a welcoming place," she said.

Chapados says students who use the library on a regular basis, for school work, are the ones who will suffer from the new policy.

"This will take away a lot of resources that they could be using and it will probably affect them a lot," he said. "I'm pretty sure they're not happy about it."

Marymount Academy principal Karl Dreger couldn't be reached for comment.

Sudbury Secondary School principal Paul Camillo didn't wish to comment on the policy until he met with library officials.

Camillo and Zuliani have a meeting planned for today to discuss the library policy.

"Not all the students are from Sudbury Secondary, we acknowledge that," Zuliani said. "But, we are going to be working together to solve the problem."

Chapados said the current policy is unacceptable for students.

"You're pretty much discriminating against students," he said.

From: North Bay Nugget

Jane Austen in zombie rampage up the book charts

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 'mash-up' becomes unexpected bestseller.
by: Alison Flood

The public's unanticipated desire for the unusual conflation of Regency romance and the undead this morning sent Seth Grahame-Smith's zombie mash-up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies soaring to the top of Amazon's UK "movers and shakers" chart, which monitors the books which are experiencing sudden demand from consumers.

Already sitting at number three in the New York Times bestseller lists, the novel – which sees Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters battling a zombie menace that has descended upon the quiet English village of Meryton – looks likely to make a similar killing in the British market. A UK sales representative for its American publisher Quirk Books said today that it was struggling to keep up with demand and is already going into a second printing, despite the book not being published until 13 April. This morning it moved into top position in the Amazon movers and shakers chart, having previously languished below 300, and climbed to 27th position in the online bookseller's overall bestseller listings.

"The idea of taking two completely separate, incongruous elements – Regency romance and zombies – you think it couldn't possibly work, but it's so intriguing and has really captured people's imaginations," said Bethan Jones, UK spokesperson for the book. "It's definitely exceeded our expectations – I don't think the publisher quite realised how popular it would be ... It's on sale next week and we've sold over 4,000 copies already, before it's even in the shops."

The novel features Jane Austen's text interspersed with "all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem" from Grahame-Smith. So, for example, when Elizabeth is slighted by Mr Darcy at the ball – "she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me" – the "warrior code" demands she "must avenge her honour ... She meant to follow this proud Mr Darcy outside and open his throat." She's thwarted, however, when a crowd of "unmentionables" pour into the ballroom, and she and her sisters are forced to draw their daggers. "Mr Darcy watched Elizabeth and her sisters work their way outward, beheading zombie after zombie. He knew of only one other woman in all of Great Britain who wielded a dagger with such skill, such grace and deadly accuracy."

"Online interest has been huge and from all sectors," said Jones. "Seth Grahame-Smith is also a screenwriter and the film rights are being hotly negotiated at the moment too." The film adaptation will face stiff competition from Elton John's Rocket Pictures, which is currently developing another monstrous take on the novel in Pride and Predator.

Jones added that Quirk Books is planning to capitalise on the popularity of the genre with a new "monster mash-up" in the autumn, the title of which is yet to be announced. "They always hoped to continue the series – they were waiting to see how it was received," she said.

Grahame-Smith said he expected other publishers would also be looking for similarly weird concoctions. "It's inevitable that other companies are going to see that this book has been received with so much enthusiasm. I'm sure that as we speak someone is poring through Wuthering Heights looking for opportunities to add whatever mayhem they can to it," he told the BBC yesterday. But he wasn't sure he was the man to continue what he called "a mini-trend of literary mash-ups". "I don't know that I want to follow this book up with Sense and Sensibility and vampires, because I could easily box myself in as being the mash-up guy," he said.

From: The Guardian

Reading into the Future

A perspective from a public library in Michigan, published in the online version of Newsweek.

As a librarian, my world was always about books. But in this economy, I've evolved into a career counselor.
by: Eva Gronowska

Libraries are my world. I've been a patron all my life, and for the past nine years I've worked at multiple libraries and archives in and around Detroit. The library as an institution has many roles, but as our country struggles through an economic crisis, I have watched the library where I work evolve into a career and business center, a community gathering place and a bastion for hope.

In the spring of 2007 I got a library internship at the Southfield Public Library, just north of Detroit. Summers at SPL were usually slow, but that year, we experienced a library that hustled and bustled like science-fair project week, midterms or tax season. Yet patrons weren't looking for Mosby's Nursing Drug Reference or 1040 forms. They were coming for information on entrepreneurship and growing their small business.

I interpreted people's interest in our business collection as the first step to pursuing their dreams, but these patrons were not motivated by dreams. They were responding to reality, and they were looking for Plan B. In Michigan, a slew of unfortunate circumstances caused the first rumblings of recession. Rising unemployment was compounded by rampant foreclosures. The auto industry went spiraling, and with it, their suppliers, then neighborhoods. Michigan's deficit grew, budgets were slashed and business slowed. Southfield used to headquarter five Fortune 500 corporations; today only Lear Corp. remains. As the city shed business, it shed tax revenue as well. Department budgets shrank and a hiring freeze permeated the city.

Things worsened in 2008, and in 2009 the economic crisis continues to suffocate Michigan. Interest in small businesses has remained high, but unemployment, the credit crunch and foreclosures command our patrons' attention and, consequently, ours. Last year, we put up a display with a variety of job resources that we restocked every hour. Each night the library closed, the display was bare. While we normally keep displays up for a week, we kept the job resources display up for months.

Our computer terminals began to fill up, too—this may not be unusual for smaller libraries, but SPL has more than 150 computers, and now some of the people coming in to use them had never even touched one. I challenge you to find someone that's never turned on a computer, explain to them how to use the mouse and keyboard, set up an e-mail address, and then fill out an online application. Now imagine doing that in less than 15 minutes while a line of people with more questions grows impatient at your desk. That's a typical weeknight at SPL.

Some of these folks are job seekers who are suddenly confronted with having to fill out online applications. I recently worked with a man in his mid-50s who was laid off after 25 years as a delivery driver. I helped him navigate the Web sites for UPS and FedEx, search through open positions, register his information and then apply for a job. He quickly became self-sufficient and returned often to check his application's status. I haven't seen him in a while; I'm hoping that's a good sign.

Housing is also a huge issue, and patrons routinely ask about rental vouchers, mortgages, foreclosure lists and apartment searches. A large number of low-income, mentally challenged or illiterate patrons often cannot comprehend the information and are in dire need of a social worker. At times, these conversations are trying, but demonstrate the extent of need.

Regardless of who they are, you can always hear the patron's voice quiver when living arrangements are uncertain. People are scrambling to keep a roof over their heads and as librarians we stay mindful that these folks are vulnerable. A local "company" publicized a free foreclosure-information event at SPL, unbeknownst to the library. The local news caught wind of it and aired a story without researching the company or contacting us. The next day we had ourselves a hubbub as people clamored to get their foreclosure packets. Worse yet, the representative of this "company" was asking for a $20 application fee just to give patrons what was freely available. One older woman was willing to forgo her medication for the week to pay the fee. A veteran librarian derailed the questionable practice by offering our service and the information for free.

Then there's the tightening credit market. People see the writing on the wall and they want to get educated. They can't afford a financial adviser, but checking books out is free. Some of the most popular titles now are "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," "Think and Grow Rich," and "Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan." We answer question about taxes, stimulus checks, grants, bankruptcy, credit scores, credit reports and many other personal-finance issues. Fortunately, we have all had comprehensive business training. Without it we wouldn't know where to start—especially now.

The crumbling economy affects us all. I have had to work long hours and don't get to see much of my boyfriend or experience any kind of social life lately, but I am thankful to be in a position where I can help people overcome this struggle. The long days are made great when I help job seekers find work, talk to teens about college, meet new business owners, have a discussion about literature and watch senior citizens send their first e-mail to their grandchildren. These small victories and billions just like them are why librarians continue to fight the good fight. In Michigan, we haven't lost hope. As long as there are libraries here, there will always be hope.

Gronowska Lives In Southfield, Mich.
© 2009

Copy of Schindler's List Comes to Light in Australian Library

The copy of Oskar Schindler's list that was given to Thomas Keneally by one of the Polish Jews whom Schindler saved has come to light in the State Library of New South Wales.
by: Alison Flood

A yellowing document listing 801 Jews who were saved from the Holocaust by Oskar Schindler has been found by Australian researchers sifting through the papers of Thomas Keneally.

The 13-page list, a carbon copy of one of Schindler's original compilations of names, inspired Keneally to write his Booker prize-winning title Schindler's Ark (later made into the Oscar-winning film Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg), which tells the story of the womanising, heavy-drinking Schindler, a Nazi who became a hero to over 1,000 Jews, saving them from the gas chambers of the second world war by employing them in his factories.

"It is a copy of a copy, but it's a moving document, regardless. When you look at it you think of the lives that were saved," said Olwen Pryke, co-curator of the State Library of New South Wales, who found the pages late last year when looking through the six boxes of Keneally's old manuscripts, newspaper clippings and photographs which the library purchased in 1996. "We were leafing through the material. Then we came across this list. Clearly it was from the 1940s and it's written in German. We started putting it all together," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Keneally was given the list, which details the names, ages, nationalities, skills and places of birth of 801 men, in 1980, when he went into a shop in Beverly Hills to buy a new briefcase. The owner, Leopold Pfefferberg, was one of the Polish Jews saved by Schindler - survivor number 173 - and he urged the author to write about his story. "It's the only case in my lifetime that someone has said, 'I've got a great story for you,' where I've ended up doing anything about it," Keneally told the Australian paper.

He went on to travel the world researching the story of Schindler, carrying the document with him. He eventually sold it to a manuscript dealer, who sold it to the library. "That's why I'm not a saint," said Keneally. "Writing so many books is not only a great weariness to the soul, it's also a storage problem. But I'm very glad the list has ended up at the State Library."

There are no original copies of the list still in existence, and only a handful of carbon copies, the most famous of which is displayed in the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. Keneally's copy goes on display in the State Library today, along with the final draft of his bestselling novel.

"It's the list Tom used when writing Schindler's Ark and that really brought Schindler's actions to the attention of the world," said Pryke


From: the Guardian

Mills & Boon launches online social-networking site

Mills & Boon, the book publisher famed for its bodice-ripping romance novels, is to launch its own social networking website in the vein of Facebook.

by: Claudine Beaumont

The site will enable fans of the series to create their own blogs and personal pages, complete with a photo and information to connect with friends and fellow fans.

The Mills & Boon community site, accessed through the publisher's homepage, goes live on Monday afternoon, and will boast forums, blogs from popular authors, and the opportunity to rate and review books, as well as tips for budding storytellers on the art of romance writing.

"This community is a chance for us to give something back to our readers," said Tim Cooper, director of direct and digital marketing at Mills & Boon. "We have a fantastically loyal readership who are very passionate about our product. It's great to be able to give them a portal to each other, as well to as us."

Mills & Boon, which celebrated its centenary last year, sells more than 130 million books worldwide anually. Its romance novels, written by more than 1,000 authors, have been translated in to 26 languages, and a Mills & Boon novel is sold every three seconds in the UK.

The launch of a social networking site is part of a new marketing strategy by the publisher, which is seeking to modernise its image. It has already launched a range of racy, erotic and sexually-charged novels under the series banner 'Blaze', and in Japan, popular books are repackaged as 'manga'-style comics to appeal to young Japanese.

Despite its reputation for appealing to older women, Mills & Boon has been enjoying a higher profile among younger readers. Tom Tivnan, features editor of The Bookseller magazine, expects the social networking site to prove a hit with fans of the series.

"In recent years, the company hasn't been shy about trying out new and trendy things," he said. "They're confident in their brand and know what they are, so this social networking site will be great for them.

"Mills & Boon has a growing readership of 25- to 30-year-olds, and this whole exercise is probably aimed at capturing some more of that market."

Last month, the Mills & Boon website attracted more than 180,000 visitors, which Mr Cooper believes shows there is an appetite for a web-based community.

"Our website is already popular, and sales in our electonic book range are hugely exceeding expectations," he said. "This tells me that our readers are tech-savvy and keen to interact and engage in an online environment."

From: Telegraph.co.uk