Birmingham

Birmingham, Britain's second city, is opening with great fanfare the new central Library of Birmingham, described as Europe's largest lending library and costing some £188 million ($291 million). Funded from the city's own coffers, the library building has an eye-catching (and somewhat controversial) design from Dutch architectural practice Mecanoo, and is one of the iconic projects in a cycle of urban regeneration under Birmingham City Council's Big City Plan that also includes the Birmingham Repertory Theatre,

Birmingham, Britain’s second city, is opening with great fanfare the new central Library of Birmingham, described as Europe’s largest lending library and costing some £188 million ($291 million). Funded from the city’s own coffers, the library building has an eye-catching (and somewhat controversial) design from Dutch architectural practice Mecanoo, and is one of the iconic [...]

The post Birmingham opens Europe’s biggest lending library — and headstone for UK’s library graveyard? appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Books-A-Million Inc., the Birmingham-based chain of 253 bookstores, will dip its toe in the print-on-demand book business and install on-demand hardware in a Maine store and a store to be named later, the company announced today.

On Demand Books LLC’s Espresso Book Machines, which today are located in about 70 college and independent bookstores – but not at major chains – can print self-published books, photo books and major titles from publishers including Harper Collins, Penguin, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, Random House and Simon & Schuster.

Across most of Europe, e-books are taxed at full national value-added rates, which reach 25 percent in Sweden, Denmark, Hungary and other countries. Printed books, benefiting from an industry lobby, are taxed at a fraction of the full rates — and not at all in Britain.

It seems, Mr. Seaman said, that the value-added tax gap “discourages traditional publishers from innovating by effectively subsidizing them not to.”

Books-A-Million Inc. is ready to snap up some former employees of bankrupt rival Borders.

Birmingham-based Books-A-Million issued a press release Tuesday encouraging all former Borders employees to apply for positions. Borders stores closed in July.

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