Whoo-hoo - the Librarian Avengers site is back! It's at a new URL and various sections of the site are still coming online, but the infamous Why You Should Fall to Your Knees and Worship a Librarian page is back! I've adjusted the link at the top of my pages accordingly, and I'll just remind you that you can support Erica and Show the World Your Librarian Pride at the same time! [via Open Stacks]

Steven Vore points us to today's Boondocks comic strip:

The sad thing is that librarians are working hard to change this, and we're succeeding in many different ways.

Technology Hooks Kids at Southfield's New Library

"Doug Zyskowski finally felt the last five years were all worthwhile when a 9-year-old boy threw a tantrum and had to be dragged out of his building screaming the whole way.

'I don't want to leave!' the kid bellowed as a frustrated mom pulled him out the door to the parking lot.

Is this a new video arcade, you think? Maybe a movie?

Try the Southfield Public Library. One week after the grand opening of the spectacular $36.8-million building, the place is packed. And City Librarian Zyskowski says the proof of its success will forever be embedded in his memory of the boy who didn't want to leave.

'Can you imagine that?' he said, chuckling as he recounted the incident for the tenth time. 'A kid that actually wants to stay at the library.' " [Detroit Free Press]

Maybe that was the SCOTUS' goal, though... teach kids not to use the best information source available to them.

Braille Version of 'Harry Potter' Weighs in at 13 Volumes

"Most days, each reconditioned Heidelberg cylinder press churns out 8,000 pages an hour as National Braille Press workers collate magazines, manuals, and popular children's books by hand.

These next few weeks, however, the staff of 49 is producing an unusually high volume of pages from this converted piano factory near Boston's Symphony Hall. They hope to ship 500 braille versions of J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' within three weeks of the book's June 21 release date.

A first printing of 500 copies will fill the needs of 10 percent of the entire K-12 market of braille readers in the US, and the work involved is no small task....

In the end, the books will be priced the same as nonbraille versions - just under $30. 'The cost doesn't even cover the paper,' says Diane Croft of National Braille Press. 'But we're a nonprofit, and it's our job to raise the difference. No one should be penalized for having to read braille.' " [Christian Science Monitor]

What a great service! Now, however, Random House needs to follow up and let Audible sell an audio version. From a Random House press release (PDF):

"In its first three days on sale in the United States and Canada, the audiobook edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has become the fastest-selling title in the history of the recorded book medium."

An Audible version would only add to those sales figures. The existing CD and audiocassette versions are at a much higher risk of being ripped and shared illegally. C'mon, Random House - step up to the plate and shame the rest of the industry with a bold move! Make all of the Harry Potter books available via Audible!