These books were recently made into movies.  Look for them on DVD, too!

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.  The movie version stars Keira Knightley and Jude Law. 
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was made into the movie The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey starring Richard Armitage and Ian McKellen.
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo was made into the movie musical which stars Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway (Academy Award, best actress).
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel was made into the movie of the same name starring Adil Hussain and Suraj Sharma as Pi.
• Lincoln, the movie, starring Daniel Day-Lewis (Academy Award, best actor) and Sally Field (nominated for best actress), was based on Team of Rivals: The political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• One Shot by Lee Child was made into the movie titled Jack Reacher, starring Tom Cruise. 
• Safe Haven, the movie starring Juliane Hough and Josh Duhamel, is based on the book Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.
• Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick was made into the movie starring Jennifer Lawrence (who won the Academy Award for best actress) and Bradley Cooper (who was also nominated for best actor).

These books are being made into upcoming movies:

Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz. The movie, to be released March 22, 2013, will star Tina Fey.

After Earth - A Perfect Beast by Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger and Peter David will be made into a movie--as yet untitled--starring Will Smith.  No release date has been set.  After Earth - A Perfect Beast, coming out the end of April 2013,  is a prequel to After Earth by Peter David which will be coming out as an eBook and a paperback in May, 2013.

Good news for SJPL DVD lovers!  SJPL will now be purchasing "rental" DVDs, the DVDs that are released by Time Warner 50+ days after the release date of the full feature DVDs sold to the public but not sold to rental outlets or libraries.  Time Warner announced this difference in their marketing of DVDs in November, 2011.  The rental DVDs feature only the theatrical release movie without extra features, but now library customers will be able to check out these movies following the "on sale" waiting period.  And our first big purchase, of course--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2, coming to a SJPL DVD collection soon!

The good news is that now Kindle owners can check out and download many of their favorite titles from Overdrive Digital Library on the SJPL Home Page.  However--and here's the bad news--not all titles available for the Kindle have been made available for the library to purchase!  And, this holds true for all ePub eBooks--

Also, some publishers do not allow their books to become eBooks.  Other publishers put restrictions on how many times an eBook can be checked out before the book has to be "purchased" again.  However, titles often become available at a later time.  So we do try to get the authors and titles you ask for, and we will continue to do so!

San José Public Library likes Harry Potter, too! However, we have received news that the Young Adult DVD Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, will not be available for libraries to purchase in the DVD format going on sale to the public November 11, 2011. The production company has withheld the sale of some theatrical release movies, including the latest Harry Potter, to libraries and rental agencies. Other popular titles not available for libraries to purchase are Crazy, Stupid Love, Contagion and The Hangover, Part 2.

"Rental versions" of these titles--with no extra features--will be offered for sale to rental agencies and libraries at some point, but SJPL does not buy "rental" products.* The full DVD version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, and possibly other unavailable titles should be available to libraries for purchase in 6 months or so. We will keep you posted!

*UPDATE!  SJPL now will be buying selected "rental" DVDs--  Rental DVDs are the same as those sold to rental DVD outlets 50+ days after the release of the theatrical release DVDs (with extra features) which are offered for sale to the public on the announced release date.  This will at least allow SJPL customers access to the movies!

Two Maximum Access subscriptions for eBooks are now part of the Overdrive digital library, found on the SJPL Home Page under eMedia. "Maximum Access" means that the titles are not subject to "holds" but can be used by multiple users at the same time!  The first subscription is for some of the most current Lonely Planet Travel Books.  The second Max Access subscription is for the Disney Collection for Children and Teens.  This library includes children's and some teen titles that are only available via this subscription.  All Lonely Planet Maximum Access titles are available to read on Kindles, free Kindle apps or on eBook compatible comptuers and devices.  The Disney Collection is available as "interactive" books to be read on Windows and Mac computers.

 The two current Maximum Access Collections, Disney Collection for Children and Teens and Lonely Planet Travel Books, are now "showcased" on Overdrive as the first and second featured collections on Overdrive's Home Page, http://overdrive.sjlibrary.org/3B904027-4CBB-47BD-80AB-1652490A7B82/10/294/en/default.htm, so they will be easier to find.  They can also be searched on Overdrive by individual title or under a category, such as "Travel" or "Children's Fiction."  The Lonely Planet titles can also be accessed by searching in the catalog.

San José Public Library now has Blu-ray DVDs as well as traditional DVDs!

• Blu-ray players have come down in price and will play any DVD, not just Blu-ray discs (“regular” DVD players WILL NOT PLAY Blu-ray discs, however; you must have a Blu-ray player to play a Blu-ray disc)
• Blu-ray discs offer durability and a better viewing experience
• More major movie titles are being offered in Blu-ray format

Blu-ray DVD packaging will look very similar to current DVD packaging, but the case will be labeled as Blu-ray in a banner across the case and on the label. The catalog will also state that the title is a BLURAY DVD. Look for Children’s Blu-ray DVD titles, such as the movie Rango (also in the system in regular DVD format) and a selection of Young Adult and Adult motion picture titles.