The Quincy Patriot Ledger profiled Betsey Detwiler and Buttonwood Books & Toys, the Cohasset, Mass., bookstore that she founded 18 years ago after retiring from teaching.

Detwiler has moved, expanded and "continually come up with creative ways to attract customers," the paper wrote. "She works with local libraries, churches and historical groups to hold events at which authors speak; some are organized around lunches or light suppers."

She told the Patriot Ledger, ''You have to do that--make connections in the community with other organizations. When we opened the store, it was easy to get people out to children's events, but now children have so many activities."

---

The OC Register profiled Matt Powers, 51-year-old owner of Comics Toons N Toys, Tustin, Calif., which offers mainstream and indie comics as well as graphic novels, collectibles and manga. Powers said his shop caters to a wide range of customers, "from elementary school children looking for the latest series installment to adults looking to complete their collection."

--- 

For us, the highlight of a Wall Street Journal article about James Frey landing a contract with HarperCollins to publish his first novel (which, for the millionth little time, will be clearly labeled fiction) is seeing our friend Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal's managing editor, quoted. She said that "people are still curious" about Frey's infamous memoir, A Million Little Pieces. "It's a book that got a lot of publicity and people are still borrowing it." The title is No. 11 on LJ's nonfiction list of most borrowed books in the U.S.

---

September 25 is the launch date at Audible.com for the first three chapters of Jeffery Deaver's unusual audiobook project, The Chopin Manuscript, according to USA Today. The thriller, written by Deaver and 15 "colleagues" (including Lee Child, Joseph Finder and Lisa Scottoline), began as a fundraiser for the International Thriller Writers. Audible, which owns a piece of the ancillary rights, calls the novel "the first major work of fiction created to be introduced only as an audio download."

--- 

In a cover story, Crain's New York Business featured Perseus Books Group, which, it said, "has been growing by double digits at a time of stagnation in the rest of the industy and now ranks eighth in the book universe. . . . The company generates revenue of more than $300 million a year, according to an industry insider." Revenue is split evenly between its publishing and distribution operations.

CEO David Steinberger said the company's focus is currently on making its many recent acquisitions work but Perseus continues to consider other additions. He told Crain's, "We think our model is powerful and successful and that it's smart to expand."

--- 

PubWest's National Publishing Conference & Book Industry Trade Show with the theme Digital World: Today and Tomorrow will be held November 8-10 in Park City, Utah. Kevin Smokler from BookTour.com, Tyson Miller from Green Press Initiative and Andrew Savikas from O'Reilly Media are giving keynote addresses. The program includes sessions and roundtables on a range of subjects as well as two in-depth programs, publishing 101 and Quark and InDesign. For more information, go to PubWest's website.

---

"A man may as well expect to grow stronger by always eating as wiser by always reading." This saying is cited by the Kampala Daily Monitor as symptomatic of the challenges faced by the National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU) "in its quest to promote a reading culture in Uganda and strengthen the local book industry."

One of the fruits of this ongoing quest is the 15th annual National Book Week Festival, which will take place September 17-22 in libraries, bookshops and other venues throughout the country. "It will be held in over 30 centres outside Kampala where several groups have prepared to celebrate under the theme: Enhancing literacy through Local Languages," said NABOTU's executive secretary, Charles Batambuze.

Stephen Koenig has joined Interweave Press as book publisher and v-p of marketing and sales. Most recently he was director of sales in the book division of F+W Publications. He replaces publisher Linda Stark, who is taking some time off and plans eventually to consult, particularly for independent magazines that could institute book publishing programs. (Interweave, bought by Aspire Media two years ago, noted that she quadrupled "the book program during her seven years of service.")

In a statement, Koenig said, "I am thrilled to be working for this category leader in the crafts industry. By focusing on the needs of the end customer, Interweave Press has developed a strong, intelligent platform that allows them to reach millions of craft enthusiasts around the country through their books, magazines, events, websites and television brands."

This morning on Fox News' Fox & Friends: Nina Garcia, author of The Little Black Book of Style (Collins, $17.95, 9780061234903/0061234907).

---

Today on Oprah: the Goldman family, contributors to and publishers of O.J. Simpson's If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer (Beaufort Books, $24.95, 9780825305887/0825305888).

---

Today on KCRW's Bookworm: Miranda July, author of the story collection No one belongs here more than you (Scribner, $23, 9780743299398/0743299396) and co-author of Learning to Love You More (Prestel, $19.95, 9783791337333/3791337335). As the show describes it: "Miranda July's film Me and You and Everyone We Know captured the mood of a generation--and its attention. In this first book of stories, we find the same fear of paralysis, the same narcotized, sleepwalker affect. Why does Miranda July, a tireless whirlwind, identify with these listless characters?"

---

Tonight on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Douglas Farah, co-author of Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible (Wiley, $25.95, 9780470048665/0470048662).

Book TV airs on C-Span 2 from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Saturday, September 15

6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. In a segment first aired in 2002, Richard Lingeman, author of Sinclair Lewis: Rebel From Mainstreet (Borealis, $24.95, 9780873515412/0873515412), presents an empathetic portrait of this eccentric author whose work exposed American myths with a volatile mixture of caricature and realism.

7 p.m. Former president Bill Clinton, author of Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World (Knopf, $24.95, 9780307266743/0307266745), discusses his new book with a panel that includes Geoffrey Canada, CEO of Harlem Children's Zone; Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx; Mark Grashow, co-founder of the US-Africa Children's Fellowship; McKenzie Steiner, beach clean-up organizer; and Premal Shah, president of Kiva.org. Tavis Smiley moderates. (Re-airs Sunday at 10 p.m. and Monday at 7 a.m.)
 
8 p.m. Dick Morris, author of Outrage: How Illegal Immigration, the United Nations, Congressional Ripoffs, Student Loan Overcharges, Tobacco Companies, Trade Protection, and Drug Companies Are Ripping Us Off . . . And What to Do About It (HarperCollins, $26.95, 9780061195402/0061195405), expresses his frustration with corruption. (Re-airs Sunday at 7 a.m.)

9 p.m. After Words: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright interviews Raymond Ibrahim, editor and translator of The Al Qaeda Reader (Broadway, $15.95, 9780767922623/076792262X), which contains key Al Qaeda documents, some previously unavailable in English, that provide a window into the thinking of radical Islam's leadership. (Re-airs Sunday at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., and Monday at 12 a.m.)

Jake Stays Awake by Michael Wright (Holtzbrinck/Feiwel & Friends, $16.95, 9780312367978/031236797X, 40 pp., ages  3-7, October)

Stay Awake, Sally by Mitra Modarressi (Putnam, $16.99, 9780399245459/0399245456, 32 pp., ages 3-5, October)

These two humorous books turn children's bedtime ploys on their ears. The first, from newcomer Michael Wright, stars young Jake, who believes he can sleep only if he's between his mother and father. The characters, with their oblong heads and expressive dot-and-line features, seem at once both oddly familiar and utterly unique. At times, Jake looks fully grown, so quick is he to monopolize his parents' "bed made for two, not a bed made for three." When the couple has had enough, they insist on a different approach. Scenes of the family lined up under a blanket on the home's rooftop (the dog dangling for dear life), shoehorned into the bathtub or stretched out on the kitchen counter will have both children and parents laughing at the lengths to which they will go for some shuteye.

Sally the raccoon, on the other hand, longs to go to sleep in her own bed, but her parents put on the brakes. "The night is still young!/ Come play," her parents say. Modarressi (Timothy Tugbottom Says No) sets just the right tone of contrast, with Sally as the do-gooder ("Tomorrow's a school day,/ I must get some rest") and her parents as the naughty instigators ("Oh, school! Pish posh, dear./ There are cookies to bake…/ And brownies/ and muffins/ …A six-layer cake"). Their warm, subtle expressions emphasize the familial bond. In the book's building climax, poor Sally concedes, "You can read me one story." But her parents raise the stakes with stall tactics recognizable to any child who's ever pled his or her thirst, hunger or fright: "Would you care for some water?" "Are you sure you're well-fed?" "Shall we check for a monster/ Under your bed?" "ENOUGH!" Sally cries and, in a model response, continues: "You'll just have to go./ I love you a lot,/ But my answer is no." All ends well, with a parting shot of the now-darkened treehouse. This pair of books may well put the kibosh on a few annoying nighttime habits.--Jennifer M. Brown

Librarians certainly hope so. But obstacles between children's librarians and young readers can create challenges--many of them shared by professionals from coast to coast.

The need for staffing and time to do outreach. Though not a new issue, staffing remains the biggest challenge to librarians who work with children. There are simply not enough librarians to do all of the story times and outreach programs that librarians would like to do. K.T. Horning, director of the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the outgoing president of the Association of Library Services to Children, said that such shortages especially affect underserved and diverse communities.   

Two programs developed in recent years have helped address such issues. Kate DiCamillo's Light the Way grant, announced at this year's annual ALSC conference in Washington, awards $5,000 to a library that's underserved (Shelf Awareness, August 8, 2007). And the ALSC's ongoing initiative el día de los niños/el día de los libros or "the day of the children/the day of books," originally proposed by children's author Pat Mora, has linked a celebration of literacy on the established Children's Day with an effort to reach out to the Spanish-speaking community.

Some libraries have even greater needs. Children's librarian Steven Engelfried in the Multnomah County Library system, Portland, Ore., and his fellow staff members target not only Spanish-speaking patrons, but also those who speak Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese. His library hires bilingual librarians and volunteers and buys materials in these four languages.

Storytime as the heart of the library. Margaret Tice, coordinator of the office of Children's Services for the New York Public Library, cited another big challenge for children's librarians: "You need to be proficient in all the traditional areas--storytelling, reading aloud--and then be up on all the latest technology and all that comes out of that." Both she and Engelfried cited research that supports the importance of reading to children from a very early age.

Engelfried is part of a nationwide movement that reaches out to children five and younger, in which Oregon is a leader. Multnomah County Library has a separate early childhood resource, of which he is a part, and also works with parent educators. "Statewide there's a lot more emphasis on the importance of early literacy," said Englefried. "Much comes from research about how kids develop, and how to reach them when they're very young, and sharing that information with their families." The library is a place where those families can come together, he also pointed out. "During storytime, the kids and parents enjoy the story, and then the time after that can be just as important," he said. There are fewer of those places around, where those informal connections can happen."

Library degree students often don't receive much training, if any, in such vital areas as reading a book aloud, conducting a story hour or even helping to match a child with a book. Partly in response, Multnomah County has established a mentor program for storytime, so fledgling librarians can learn from experienced storytellers.

The lure of technology. Even young students are attracted to social networking sites such as MySpace, which poses challenges, Tice said. "How do we help kids be safe and yet have fun and learn how to use these new aspects of technology?" Librarians in Engelfried's branch often take their cue from the kids ("When we see them using something like MySpace, we [talk] with them and figure out how to use it"). But he, too, admits that where technology is concerned, "The way kids use it changes faster than we can keep up. We have to find ways to fit into it."

Still, technology offers a great deal of opportunity for librarians. Kate McClelland, director of youth services for many years at Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich, Conn., said, "We have greater interactivity with our kids than ever, because they can contact us through neebo [instant-messaging], e-mail us, or post to our blog. So that aspect of our professional life is more fun and exciting than ever." Horning expanded on the opportunities presented by technology: "There are some libraries experimenting with podcasts of story hours and that sort of thing. There are a lot of exciting ways the media are being applied to traditional library services. We're seeing more services being offered online, so there are many children who have access to libraries without having to come in."

But other librarians see a need to extend a child's relationship to the library as a physical space. McClelland offers the example of a child who has an interest in submarines: "His library might have a title on submarines, so what will happen is he'll find the book online, reserve it online, the library will call to say the book is at the desk for him, he will take the single book he requested home. He will never go to the submarine section and look at all the submarine books. It's a quick in and quick out." McClelland and her colleagues have established a variety of programs, including a Friday afternoon book club, to foster a stronger relationship between young people and the library.

Intellectual freedom. Challenges to books continue to be an ongoing issue confronting librarians--no case could be more visible than the 2007 Newbery winner, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, and its use of the word "scrotum." But even books such as The Big House by Carolyn Coman, in which two children must live with an heiress who has just sent their parents to prison, has come under scrutiny. "We got all this flack in Texas because the criminal parents were okay, and what kind of message were we sending," according to Betty Carter, longtime educator at Texas Woman's University's School of Library & Information Studies and a member of the 2008 ALA Notables Committee. The CCBC offers resources to Wisconsin librarians facing similar challenges to specific titles and ALA offers help to librarians nationwide.

No Child Left Behind leaves a legacy of "reading for the test." All of the librarians interviewed expressed concern about the effect of six years of the skills-driven tenets of the No Child Left Behind Act on children learning how to read. McClelland worried that the Act reinforces some young people's belief that "reading is something you do to pass a test rather than something you do because you want to." Engelfried observed, "We're seeing more homework, more parents coming in with the kids than ever, and some of the homework is pretty rough for the kids--levels above their ability at times." This push toward test results can trickle down to parents in other unhelpful ways. More and more children are  reading at a younger age, Horning said, and "in some ways, I think parents are pushing their children a little early." Carter suggested that the test makers use a conception of learning that's illogical: "They imagine a system: First you learn a letter, then the sound, then a word and a sentence. But in reality it happens all at once. We read things above our level because we're interested, and below our level because it's fun. That's the part that's getting left out."

The good news: Children do still read for fun. As Engelfried put it, "The biggest glittering example is Harry Potter." Both he and Tice commented that Harry has made reading "cool"--it's no longer an activity just for nerds. And they both also believe that anime and manga books have done a lot to make reading acceptable and accessible for older reluctant readers. Young people, as several librarians pointed out, do perhaps more reading than ever: they read online, they read when they play computer games, they read magazines. It's just not exclusively the old-fashioned kind.--Jennifer M. Brown