This terrific article in the New York Times argues that used book sales are *good* for publishers. Article bolsters its case by linking to some academic papers freely available on the web, and it specifically examines university textbooks as an area where this is true.

Singapore's National Library can play a key role in Singapore's publishing ecosystem, and they have some ambitions in this area. [Update: The new Library 2010 plan has just been posted on the NLB website. It is a 2 MB download.]

David Chew's article in Today covers the closing of arts publication Vehicle, and bemoans the state of arts journalism in Singapore. David mentions Vehicle, The Arts Magazine and FOCAS (we help a bit with their circulation: FOCAS is not closed but having a hiatus.) It is not just arts and culture: Singapore has no "quality" weekly or monthly, no "review" of cultural, political and social affairs. No obvious place to review university press books...

Copies of this important new book arrived in our warehouse last month. We believe it really is the best single-volume history of Southeast Asia currently available on the market. Please contact winnifred[at]nus.edu.sg if you are interested in textbook adoptions.