Housing Slump Impacts Publisher

Link to 7/21 PW Online article, "Creative Homeowner Hammered".

Excerpt: The slump in virtually all areas of the housing market resulted in a steep drop in results at Creative Homeowner, with sales in the third quarter ended June 30 plunging 45%, to $3.7 million, and the company posting a loss of $3 million, parent company Courier Corp. reported. For the first nine months of the year, sales at Creative Homeowner were down 25%, to $15.7 million, and the company had a loss of $5.2 million.

Status Report on Cedar Rapids Public Library

Link to July 18 Cedar Rapids Gazette article and video, "Long road ahead for library".

Excerpt:

There's an upside to seeing the Cedar Rapids Public Library as it is now — a vast shell studded with bare concrete pillars.

"It leaves it a lot more open to think, how can we do things differently?" said Library Board President Susan Corrigan.

Library board members and John Levy, managing director for Globe Midwest Risk Management, led reporters on a tour of the utterly empty building Friday afternoon.

Floodwaters reached 5 feet above the floor and, based on the marks on the wall, appear to have sloshed violently in the skylit lobby near the circulation desk.

Milwaukee Area Libraries Embrace RFID Technology

Link to July 20 JSOnline article, "Library uses microchips to manage materials".

Excerpt:
Outside the West Allis Public Library [shown in picture above], Lisa Jones pushes a button to open a steel hatch and slides her books and movies, one at a time, onto the conveyor belt.

Within seconds, a computer checks in each item and reactivates its anti-theft device. It clears Jones’ account, spits out a receipt and then — just inside the building — propels each item into one of five bins, for reshelving or a truck en route to other libraries.

The sorting system, the first of its kind in Milwaukee County when it went live this month, is among the latest innovations in library operations — a smaller version of the complex material-handling systems that move luggage through airports and boxes through the massive distribution centers of UPS and FedEx.

Like many industries, public libraries are turning increasingly to automation to improve efficiency and lower costs. And while this forced job cuts in some communities, others say it has freed staff for more face-to-face work with patrons. (And this is indeed where the need is.)