Now playing at a library near you

You can call it pandering, or you can call it marketing genius, but I've heard rumors of libraries holding viewings of classic summer blockbusters. And why not? Many a mega flick has sprung from a book—take Peter Benchley's Jaws, Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park, and Winston Groom's Forrest Gump. Of course, more probably have nothing to do with a novel, but plenty of literature bears the Star Wars imprimatur, for instance. These days, books and movies just need each other—Hollywood execs heat-seek "built-in" audiences, and publishers want that big-screen exposure to beef up a backlist. I'm convinced that libraries should publicize that connection to draw in patrons. Movies and books are luxuries for a large chunk of the population, and by making them free (essentially), you'll be doing your community a double service: You may turn a connoisseur of one medium on to the other and enrich their worldview. In the meantime, I'm going to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: A Dead Man's Chest. And who knows? Maybe I'll whip out Treasure Island.—Heather McCormack