San Joaquin County Libraries Eschew Late Charges on Children, Teen Books, Print Materials
City officials announced that books and print materials checked out from the children and teen sections at Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Libraries will no longer incur overdue fees. This policy took effect last week and will also apply to the Bookmobile, a traveling library that carries books for all ages. The county hopes that eliminating these fines will increase library card signups and library use as well as reduce library inaccessibility due to social inequality.
Publishers, Internet Archive File Dueling Summary Judgment Motions in Scan Suit
Lawyers for Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House argued that the Internet Archive’s scanning program, which allows them to scan and lend books under a legal theory known as “controlled digital lending,” is clearly illegal and is a massive piracy operation in a motion filed this week as part of an ongoing lawsuit concerning IA’s copyright infringement. The publishers argue that IA helped manufacture the legal theory of controlled digital lending to justify its infringement, allowing IA to create its own unauthorized ebook editions, which then compete directly with authorized ebooks.
Love And Thunder Brings in Thor‘s Biggest Opening Weekend Ever
Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love And Thunder is set to have the best opening weekend out of any Thor movie ever, likely with at least $135 million this weekend, which far surpasses Kenneth Branagh’s Thor ($64 million opening weekend), The Dark World ($85 million), and Waititi’s own Ragnarok ($122 million).
SFF Books Coming Out in July to Keep On Your Radar
July has plenty of science fiction and fantasy releases to look forward to reading — from a novel about siblings working together to protect their friends from a sinister laser tag simulation, to a daughter of revolutionaries infiltrating the prince’s castle to rescue her father, to an Earth-born healer searching for her Mars-born spouse who has disappeared, you’re sure to find an upcoming read to enjoy.