Several news organizations (among them, AP and Reuters) are covering today’s release of a Pew study showing that the most frequent users of libraries are in the 18 to 30 year old age group. The reports acknowledge that many library users are “drawn in by the computers rather than the books.” Unfortunately, the study itself doesn’t indicate how many users come to the library only for online access. A quote from Leigh Estabrook, a professor emerita at the University of Illinois and co-author of a report on the survey leaves the impression that the collections are the draw, “Internet use seems to create an information hunger and it is information-savvy young people who are most likely to visit libraries,” she said.

Librarians I spoke to say it’s definitely the computers. Minutes after a library opens, all terminals are taken. Since computer users come more frequently than book users, that also increases the stats. “We see many of the computer users every day, unlike book users who check out material once a week or once a check out period,” says Lynn Wheeler, director of the Carroll County Public Library. She further notes that “the demographic for computer use is widening as more people come to the library to use the Internet.”

Sno-Isle Public Library, as reported earlier this month in the Seattle Times, developed a program that addresses the generational divide. Teens are tapped to teach computer skills to seniors. Five years after the program began, over 300 seniors have been trained.

As most librarians already know, meeting the demand for computer time can be a challenge. This is verified by a recent article in First Monday, “The Looming Infrastructure Plateau? Space, Funding, Connection Speed, and the Ability of Public Libraries to meet the Demand for Free Internet Access.”

Hollywood has fallen in love with books again (as the most fickle lover there is, expect a quick reversal). This week’s USA Today’s “Book Buzz” column notes that with seven movie-related titles in the top 50, their bestseller list “resembles a box-office report.” But, significantly, the books rank in a different order than the movies. This leads to the age-old publishing question — when does a movie affect book sales? Atonement, at #7, is way ahead of No Country for Old Men (at #79), even though they are both in limited release. What makes the difference? Perhaps it’s the heavy promotional messages on NPR for Atonement, with reference to it being a”romance”?

USA Today’s list reflects sales through the prior Sunday (Dec. 23rd), so it doesn’t take into account several important book-related movies that opened on Christmas Day. To see how these movies are affecting books, we have to look to Amazon’s rankings, updated hourly. Charlie Wilson’s War is doing well, fitting my own theory that when a movie presents a fascinating character, people want to learn more about him.

The stunner is that Oil! is getting a bump. The movie title is different from the book (There Will be Blood), making it less identifiable with the movie and the book, by Upton Sinclair, is hardly a recent title. The graphic novel Persepolis also is surfacing. More details on those and a look at a movie to hit next month, below:

Charlie Wilson’s War by George Crile

Movie directed by Mike Nichols

Starring: Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks.

The Amazon rank for hardcover has been ranging from #35 to #43. Oddly, the trade paperback tie-in edition is doing less well, at around #533 (perhaps because the hardcover is priced very close to the trade paperback tie-in).

Hardcover:

• Publisher: Grove Press (April 22, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0802141242
• ISBN-13: 978-0802141248

Paperback tie-in

• Publisher: Grove Press; Reissue edition (November 6, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0802143415
• ISBN-13: 978-0802143419

There Will Be Blood
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis

Based on: OIL! by Upton Sinclair.

Amazon ranking: around #650

• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 18, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0143112260
• ISBN-13: 978-0143112266
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #636

Persepolis
Starring: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve

Directors: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

There’s several formats of the graphic novel available, listed in order of their Amazon rankings:

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Paperback)

Amazon — around #450

• Publisher: Pantheon (June 1, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 037571457X
• ISBN-13: 978-0375714573

The Complete Persepolis: Now a Major Motion Picture (tie-in paperback ed.)

Amazon — around #1,500

• Publisher: Pantheon (October 30, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0375714839
• ISBN-13: 978-0375714832

Persepolis Boxed Set (Paperback)

Amazon — around #4,500

• Publisher: Pantheon (October 25, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 0375423966
• ISBN-13: 978-0375423963

Looking further ahead, buzz is building for Beaufort, set to open in the US next month. The L.A. Times reviewed the book this week, calling it “that rare thing, a novel of deep moral concern in which sympathetically drawn and beautifully realized characters are allowed to speak for themselves.” Originally published in Isreal, it was on the bestseller list there for 18 months. Currently, it is ranking around 7,000 on Amazon.

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (December 26, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0553806823
• ISBN-13: 978-055380682

Ah, the promise of a new season. I love publishers catalogs. I love the cover images, invoking a new season right at the point when I’m already tired of the current one. I love browsing through their glossy pages, guessing which are the “make” titles, discovering what hither-to unexplored area of history has engrossed an author for decades.

And, of course, since we absolutely do judge a book by its cover, part of the fun is looking for fresh new images. I’ve only browsed a few of the Spring/Summer catalogs, but the cover for Chuck Palahniuk’s new book is already my favorite:

Yes, it appears that the author’s name isn’t on the cover at all. What breath-taking audacity. I would have loved to hear the discussion at sales conference about that.

In our pursuit of specality best books lists, we discovered Country Music TV’s Web site has picked it’s favorites of 2007. Perhaps demonstrating how far country has come, three of the titles are from university presses.

Two are from the University of Illinois Press’s “Music in American Life” series:

Havighurst, Craig. Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City, University of Illinois Press (Sept. 27, 2007), Hdbk, $29.95.

ISBN-10: 0252032578

ISBN-13: 978-0252032578

Diekman, Diane. Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story, University of Illinois Press, (Aug 13, 2007), Hdbk, $29.95

ISBN-10: 0252032489

ISBN-13: 978-0252032486

And, from Oxford University Press:

Russell, Tony, Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost, Oxford University Press, Hdbk, (Oct. 9, 2007), $29.95

ISBN13: 9780195325096

ISBN10: 0195325095

The article notes that “Book choices are relatively sparse this holiday season for those who like country music only” and the other seven choices are well-represented in libraries.

Many best books lists appear at year’s end. But they tend to repeat the same well-known titles that you bought months ago. On the other hand, specialty lists often bring to light titles that were not covered in the pre-pub sources. This month’s Saveur offers a list of the editors’ top ten 2007 favorites. The following titles on the list did not get advance reviews and are therefore under represented in many library catalogs.

Since the Saveur piece is not online, we’ve cribbed their comments below:

Ortega, Simone and Ines. 1080 Recipes, Phaidon Press, (October 26, 2007), Hdbk, $39.95.

ISBN-10: 0714848360
ISBN-13: 978-0714848365

“…Spain’s best-selling cookbook for more than 30 years. At long last, an English-language edition, updated with recipes that reflect that country’s recent avant-garde culinary renaissance.”
Parkes, Simon. The Calcutta Kitchen, Interlink, (March 30, 2007),Hdbk, $29.95.

ISBN-10: 1566566711
ISBN-13: 978-1566566711

“a compendium of masterly recipes, essays…serves up a vision of India’s third-largest city that stays with you long after you’ve left the kitchen.”

Riley, Gillian, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, Oxford University Press, (October 2, 2007), Hdbk, $39.95.

ISBN-10: 0198606176
ISBN-13: 978-0198606178

“an exhaustive, alphabetized encyclopedia on the foods and culinary traditions of Italy.”

Meanwhile, this month’s Gourmet looks ahead to a certain crowd pleaser from Karen Tack, “one of the most sought-after food stylists in publishing.” Her handiwork is on the cover of the issue as well as the feature article on homemade sweets (the photo of the cinnamon palmier defines “food porn” for me).

In her forthcoming Hello, Cupcake, Houghton Mifflin, (April 23, 2008), shows off her ability to play with food.

Trade Paperback, 15.95ISBN-10: 0618829253

ISBN-13: 978-0618829255

While we’re on the subject of food in the library, the Palm Desert Library has hit on a winning idea, using local chefs in their programming.