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June 4, 2010
Lo and behold
A couple of months ago I wrote in The Bookseller and here that there are some fundamental flaws with public library supplier selection.
In particular I noted that the standard discounts on some supply contracts are so high that there would be a temptation for library suppliers who are selecting the books to choose some copies that may have been obtained at extremely low cost.
Those of us who have been around a long time and bear the scars know that publishers who sell to remainder dealers in the book trade sometimes mark the books in particular ways so that they cannot readily re-enter the normal supply chain. Quite often these books, as anyone who goes to a car boot sale or even many remainder book shops, are popular titles. They are sometimes being sold like this because a book has been re-jacketed or there is some other reason why some stock is surplus. It does not mean the title is in any way past its sell by date.
When I wrote that in the Bookseller I expected there would be an outcry of indignation, and was rather surprised at the silence that followed.
Lo and behold I noticed this morning that a popular crime fiction paperback that I borrowed from my local library yesterday carries a remainder mark that I recognise. The publisher is one of the large 5. A label inside the book tells me it was supplied to my library service by one of the main library suppliers at its full paperback price. They probably bought it at 80% discount from a remainder dealer. That is the way high discounts can be given.
ho hum
Posted by Perkins at June 4, 2010 11:19 AM
Comments
I don't know what your local library service is. I do know that the library service I work for has been receiving an increasing number of books with what looked to be remainder marks on them.
Only, it turns out they're not remainder marks. They're marks to show that the book has had an RFID tag fitted in it. I finally worked this out after a book from our branch (which doesn't have RFID) went off on a request mark-less, and had a mark (and RFID tag) when it came back. This was confirmed when I made enquiries.
Personally I'm not at all keen on this way of marking RFID-tagged books. It looks ugly, and people with a little knowledge get the wrong idea. But there's bugger all I can do about it.
In any case, I wonder if it's possible that this is the case with the book you saw.
Posted by: Endless Nameless at August 20, 2010 6:42 PM