Libraries could become the new "village green" of the future, and are becoming a cultural center destination in communities, former Pennsylvania first lady Michele Ridge told a crowd of several hundred gathered for the dedication of the new William H. and Marion C. Alexander Library in Hummelstown Tuesday afternoon.

Ridge, a former librarian and executive director of the Erie County Library System, recited a litany of reasons libraries will remain important in communities, even as people rely increasingly on Internet sources for information.

"The more technologically complex we become, the more isolated and fragmented we become as a society, the more necessary it is to support community institutions that remind us of a community and keep us connected to each other," such as libraries, Ridge said.

Libraries are a place to do homework, help senior citizens and the unemployed in job searches, and “level the playing field” for the less advantaged who can’t afford books or computers, she said. During the years her husband, Tom Ridge, was governor, state library funding increased steadily. Michele Ridge said the responsibility to support libraries "starts at the local level," and said the Dauphin County Library System understands how to maintain and expand libraries in this challenging economic environment [read more at pennlive.com

Until this week, hacking an iPhone was like jaywalking for techies: easy, common and illegal.

But the Library of Congress has legalized this hacking -- known as "jailbreaking" -- and given amnesty to the millions of users who have already done it.

Jailbreaking allows savvy iPhone users to hack into their devices and run applications that weren't approved by the official Apple app store.

It's a popular process that's been an open secret since the smart phone premiered. Apple, known for its tight control on all products, has responded by refusing to honor warranties for jailbroken devices.

The Library of Congress decision has been interpreted as a victory for the amateur who wants some say -- and maybe some pay -- for altering a device's capabilities and vulnerabilities. Companies already shell out cash to "bug hunters" who alert them to security gaps.

It's also a victory for open-source software, which emphasizes the community in improving software rather than one-size-fits-all corporate management [read more at post-gazette.com]

It is now more than three years since the manager, Peter Maurer, came up with the idea of this unique communal hybrid of a public library inside a pub, and, if customer satisfaction is any measure, the project has been a success [read more at washingtonpost.com]

On the street, kids call Jenna Kahly the "library lady."

The youth librarian at Moorhead Public Library, Kahly leads weekly story times and craft projects and helps kids and teens find books.

“It’s really fun when kids come in. I get a lot (of) "Hey, I know you’ because I visit the schools several times a year and talk to the kids about libraries and the programs we have and try to get them to sign up for library cards," she said [read more at inforum.com]

Books, videos and soul mates: just some of the services provided by your local library.

Starting July 23, the Poudre River Public Library District is trying its hand at playing Cupid with the inaugural "Speed Dating for Booklovers."

Communications manager Paula Watson-Lakamp said the event is an innovative way to create more interaction with the library and help people "find their special book lover." [read more at coloradoan.com]

More and more, it seems the future of libraries has no room for actual books. And a new Stanford University library is welcoming this book-less future with open arms.

The new engineering library at the college, set to open in August, will have 85% less books than the one it’s replacing -- a drop from 80,000 to a mere 10,000 books [read more at designtaxi.com]

German archives officials said Tuesday that they were unlikely to be able to afford to buy a major hoard of historic documents about Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler which comes up for auction at the end of this week.

The seven binders of papers were accumulated by prison authorities when Hitler was serving 13 months in jail 1923-24 and writing his book Mein Kampf. An auctioneer in the Nuremberg suburb of Fuerth says the minimum bid Friday will be 25,000 euros ($30,000) [read more at haaretz.com]

ExtensionFM is a free Chrome add-on that catalogs every free MP3 file you run across and builds a virtual library. It's an amazingly convenient way to discover and catalog new music without waiting for downloads, and may convince me to use Chrome on a regular basis [read more at news.cnet.com]

The BBC report on a case of anti-social behaviour in the capital with a positive outcome. Police were apparently called out dozens of times last year to deal with a gang of teenagers using Muirhouse library as a place to hang out. But now the same young people are being consulted on its renovation works [read more at guardian.co.uk]

Finances come in many different forms.

“Capital markets, credit, saving, investing, special security, retirement planning,” says McGraw-Hill Companies Chief Executive Terry McGraw.

If that list alone was enough to make your head spin, luckily there's a place you can go for help. The New York Public Library has created a financial information hub at the Science, Industry and Business Library on Madison Avenue. The recently-unveiled Financial Literacy Central contains more than 1,500 books on a variety of financial subjects.

“People still read books,” says New York Public Library President Dr. Paul LeClerc. “They still use books. They still take books out.”

But books are only the beginning. Patrons will also have online access to business and financial databases, including Standard & Poors, which is part of the McGraw Hill Companies. McGraw says understanding investments is more vital than ever because as Americans live longer, we need to make our money go further [read more at ny1.com]