College and Research Libraries By D O M I N I C K C O P P O L A Library-Book Trade Relations in the Field of Current Books IT I S A P P A R E N T T O A N Y O N E w h o C a r e s t O look into the matter that, strangely enough, library literature pertaining to the field of acquisitions is meager. This is especially true of the phase of acquisi- tions related to purchasing. Consequent- ly, the subject of librarian-bookseller re- lationships has been woefully neglected in the writings and discussions of the li- brary world. What little has been said about the in- terdependence of librarians and book- sellers has usually revolved around those aspects of the trade related to out-of-print and rare books. T h e current book trade, both domestic and foreign, comes up less frequently as a subject for consideration. Surely this cannot be attributed to any lack of common meeting ground between the librarian and bookseller. What li- brarian at all concerned with acquisi- tions, or what dealer in current books, is not interested in ordering, service from suppliers, invoices, discounts, claims, elu- sive materials, files of outstanding orders, continuations, bibliographical work, per- sonnel problems, administration, to name the more obvious matters? T h e librarian tries to devise the most efficient method of ordering; the book- seller does the same. T h e librarian de- mands invoices from the bookseller which are accurate, made out as request- ed and presented with the utmost speed; the bookseller makes the same demands Mr. Coppola is chief, Library Service, Stechert-Hafner, Inc., New York. This paper was presented before the Acquisi- tion of Library Materials Board, Phila- delphia, July 8, 1955. of the publisher. T h e librarian requests efficient, prompt service from his book- seller; the bookseller requires the same of his publisher. T h e librarian seeks the best possible discount from his booksell- er; the latter does the same from the publisher. T h e librarian must follow up his orders by maintaining files for out- standing requests and by devising effi- cient claim procedures; the bookseller, if he is to operate efficiently, must d o like- wise. T h e efficient librarian should do some bibliographical searching in con- junction with ordering; the expert book- seller must often do likewise. T h e librar- ian must entice professional and subpro- fessional help and devise sundry ways of keeping his people; the bookseller, too, must concern himself with personnel and its problems. T h e capable librarian should combine bookmanship and ad- ministration; the successful bookseller must do so. But this labors the point. One need go no further to demonstrate that technical processes in libraries parallel the activi- ties of a bookselling organization. If, then, the librarian and the bookseller use so many similar if not identical pro- cedures, certainly a frequent exchange of ideas is in order. Both stand to profit from better communication. T h e librar- ian can transmit ideas which will enable the bookseller, w h o is in a way an exten- sion of the acquisitions department, to provide better service. T h e bookseller can offer suggestions which would not only make his own task easier but would result in greater efficiency. Improving communication between the two would redound, in the end, mostly to the advan- 330 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES tage of the librarian. Certainly, for the li- brarian, such exchange of thought would throw more light upon the book market, which to quote our chairman, Mr. Vos- per, "is an important subject not ade- quately understood by most librarians." T i m e does not permit a full scale dis- cussion of the various phases of librarian- bookseller relationships. However, a few minutes can be devoted to several topics of common interest, which may lead to an exchange, if not of ideas, at least of some information. For example, take the subject of cur- rent American publications. T h e librar- ian today can place his order for such books with four different types of sup- pliers: (1) the publisher; (2) the local bookseller; (3) the large general book- seller or library agent, usually located in the metropolitan areas; and (4) the job- ber. Depending on circumstances, the li- brarian may find it to his advantage to use each of these agencies. If he is inter- ested in consolidating his orders, with economy in mind, he must turn either to the jobber or to the large general book- seller. T h e jobber will allow the better discount; the large general bookseller will not grant a high discount, but he will provide better service in out-of-the-way, non-trade, and out-of-print titles. T h e librarian not too concerned with consolidation of orders may perhaps rely upon several or all four agencies. Obvi- ously, the more sources from which the library orders the greater will be the work-load of that library: more invoices, more correspondence, expenses of one kind or another. Incidentally, when a li- brarian splits his orders, he should, for the good of all concerned, keep in mind that his demands for service should not be unreasonable. If he allots only the elusive and short discount material to the bookseller best equipped for it, would it not be wise to favor that same book- seller every so often with orders for some profitable material as well? This leads us to the question of discounts. One cannot criticize the librarian for seeking the best terms possible on domes- tic publications. Nevertheless, blind in- sistence on discounts to the exclusion of all other considerations does not make for a sound bookselling economy. Surely, such an economy is vital to the acquisi- tions librarian who needs ever-improving service from the bookseller. Consider, for example, the case of the library agent. T h e large general bookstore, or library agent, willing and able to handle most any type of order, has all but disappeared from the scene, simply because he could not meet the discounts offered to the li- brarian by jobbers and publishers. By buying directly from both these agencies at high discounts and not from a retailer, such as the library agent, the librarian has been directly responsible for the vir- tual elimination of that type of booksel- ler from the picture. As a consequence, the librarian may soon be forced to split his orders even though at times he may prefer not to do so. T h e gain in discount in many cases, if carefully measured, may prove to be negligible in relation to the loss of services. Furthermore, a library agent can be of help in many different ways. For example, there is one impor- tant library which, having complete faith in its library agent, has recently arranged to receive one annual invoice, not item- ized, for many of its foreign periodical subscriptions, with the understanding, of course, that it can obtain itemized infor- mation upon request. H o w much time, trouble and expense such a procedure can save! T h e continued placement of such a premium on discounts could conceivably result in a dangerously unhealthy situa- tion in the book industry. If large book- selling concerns are forced into a pre- carious financial condition, it will most assuredly not be to the advantage of the librarian. Certainly the picture is not ex- aggerated. Witness how few concerns that JULY, 1956 331 are booksellers in the true sense of the word are left in the United States today. This is a situation quite contrary to that existing in most European countries. Another subject of possible interest to librarians and booksellers is that of for- eign publications. Librarians who pur- chase current foreign books through booksellers find a rather ideal situation today, especially if the publications are from Europe. Many order directly from the country of publication. Others order from American agents. According to John Fall: " I n general it will be f o u n d that the American dealer is aware of for- eign competition and that he has ad- justed his prices to conform to European prices or even to improve on them."1 American dealers have facilities in other areas of the world also, much to the li- brarian's advantage. These dealers often employ persons who are acquainted with a number of foreign languages, and they may have foreign offices staffed with local personnel. T h e importance of dealing with publishers and bookmen abroad in their own tongue and, in so far as possi- ble, according to their own patterns, should not be underestimated. A m o n g various special aids to libraries, the American importer can often arrange to bind the paper-back foreign books be- fore delivery. W h e n there are several edi- tions available of particular titles, he can at times choose the one most suitable for library use. In skimming over the subject of for- eign books, one would be remiss not to mention the valuable service which deal- ers in foreign books provide through their periodic lists and catalogs of new publi- cations. Even from countries where bib- liographies are good, any news of books and periodicals should be invaluable to the librarian. Often such announcements will offer detailed descriptions, and will call attention to items far in advance of publication. These titles may not appear 1 John Fall, "Problems of A m e r i c a n Libraries in A c q u i r i n g Foreign P u b l i c a t i o n s , " Library Quarterly, X X I V ( 1 9 5 4 ) , 101-13. until much later in the regular bibliogra- phies and then often with a paucity of information. T h e bookseller is much concerned with library order procedures, whether for for- eign or domestic publications. He is inter- ested first in the bibliographical informa- tion which the librarian supplies, and second in the form in which the order is placed. Although the bookseller is equipped to supply or add to the bibliographical in- formation on an order, certainly this should be no reason for leaving out any available data, especially if it happens to be right on hand, when the order is pre- pared in the library. W h y d o some librar- ians neglect to mention when ordering that a particular book is known to be out of print? Obviously it makes all the dif- ference in the way the bookseller will handle that order. T h e bookseller will de- plore any trends in libraries which seek to cut down on essential bibliographical work performed before a title is ordered. T h e librarian who is primarily interested in getting the book should know that whatever information he can contribute will increase the chances of obtaining it, as well as speed up delivery. It is surprising to see how often a title may be reported unknown or out of print by harassed or understaffed booksellers simply because the librarian did not take the trouble to establish the correct name of the author. T h e expert, well-staffed book concern will endeavor to avoid this, but it may receive the order only after others have had it and after much time has been lost. Actually, the dealer does not require too much data. He will be happy if he can at least have the author's name in correct form, the name of the publisher, and the place of publication for some of the foreign titles. Of course, in the case of smaller libraries with inade- quate sources of information, asking f o r even such rudimentary facts may at times be unreasonable. T h e manner in which orders are 332 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES placed, thanks to the introduction of mul- tiple order forms, has received quite a bit of attention in the library w o r l d in re- cent years. T h e bookseller is indebted to the librarian for introducing this new procedure. He, too, in many instances, n o w does his ordering in the same way. However, some of the library forms seem not to have been designed with m u c h con- sideration for the bookseller. It behooves the librarian w h o is about to adopt a multiple-form system to help the b o o k - seller if he can, f o r then he will be repaid with better service. W h a t the bookseller wants above all is a 3 " x 5 " slip, simple in design. H e w o u l d prefer not to receive the eighth or ninth c o p y and w o u l d be delighted with the first. Having the library's name o n the top, instead of anywhere else o n the slip, is preferable. Certainly he looks askance at those multiple order forms that are accompanied by a covering letter bearing necessary information which does not ap- pear o n the order forms themselves. H e himself is then obliged to transcribe such data, relating (for example) to f u n d or blanket order number, to each slip. N o r is he pleased with an arrangement where- by he is required to return his one and only f o r m when he supplies the b o o k . In such cases he is left without an original record and must, if he is to operate intel- ligently, make a copy f o r his o w n files. W h y not furnish the bookseller a f o r m in duplicate if one copy must be returned to the library? Surely something can be d o n e to stand- ardize the myriad of forms n o w in exist- ence. T h e bookseller and the librarian, we are sure, welcome the suggestion which appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Cataloging and Classification recommending that a committee investi- gate the possibility of developing a mul- tiple-copy order f o r m to meet the needs of many librarians.2 Certainly it should not be an impossible task f o r some divi- sion of the A L A to accomplish. T h e subject of librarian-bookseller re- lationships in the field of current books is a broad one. It is gratifying to observe the trend toward more discussion. Book- sellers w o u l d like to meet more librar- ians, especially order librarians and w o u l d welcome them in their offices or shops that they might observe h o w the b o o k trade operates and meet the p e o p l e with w h o m they share mutual interests. 2 Journal of Cataloging and Classification, X I (1955), 1 0 6 . List of Standard Lists Published In 1951 the Council of National Library Associations created the Committee for the Protection of Cultural and Scientific Re- sources to study proposals for the preserva- tion of library, archival and museum mate- rials in the event of atomic warfare. After four meetings the Committee relin- quished any ideas of broad-scale "protective" programs and agreed to recommend instead the systematic strengthening of resources on a regional basis to make each region self-suf- ficient in the books needed to continue re- search. T o this end the representatives of the various library associations represented agreed to stimulate the production of "standard col- lection" lists which would aid in defining the desired level of resources. As a first step toward the production of these lists it was agreed to prepare a list of "standard collection" lists. This has been published as: A List of Checklists Used in Surveys of Library Book Collections. Pre- pared by the staff of the Library of Congress at the committee's request, this eighteen-page list may be requested from the committee's chairman, Scott Adams, National Institutes of Health Library, Bethesda 14, Maryland. JULY, 1956 333