Wowio - More Books for Information Compulsive Persons

Wowio is a free web based service that allows you to download books, magazines and graphic novels. It gives folks an opportunity to catch up on the classics like Two Gentlemen of Verona or discover classic comics/graphic strips like Steve Canyon by Milton Caniff.

They have books in wide variety of categories such as Arts and Design, Philosophy, Business and you can't have too many Science Fiction and Fantasy books as far as I'm concerned. The books are in the Adobe PDF format.

There is a daily download limit of three books a day but how fast can you read on the screen anyway? It is free but you do have to register and they ask you not to pass the books around to other folks.

I've read a few and they are not bad. The main problem is having the time to read what I've downloaded before I grab a few more. It is an interesting idea and I hope that it will grown and develop.

Librarians at NY Comic Con

I'm still snooping in the Library Journal archives and came across a posting of Librarians hosting panels at the New York Comic Convention.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6421289.html

I learned that librarians pioneered the introduction of graphic novels into the library and that they account for 10% of the sales which comes out to $30 million. Wow.

The discussions talked about Graphic Novels, Anime (Japanese Animation) and how best to display the materials in the library. As an added bonus there are articles that you can download and review. There is a Young Adult Library Services Association list that recommends materials for 12-18 year old. There is also a great article on how to include Anime programing into library offerings.