Hustler Magazine Challenge, Week 2

[Genny Engel]

I haven't been paying any attention to this so far, but saw Nick Arnett's
name on a post and figured this might be interesting, since he usually
posts on quasi-Verity-related topics (which I find interesting).  Hmm, I
find this reply to Nick:

> But this isn't a case of opportunity cost, since the library isn't being
> offered the opportunity to purchase anything but "Hustler".

Well, no, the library is constantly offered the opportunity to buy all
kinds of things, not to mention to get other free stuff.  The concept of
opportunity cost doesn't have to do so much with whether the specific cost
of acquiring commodity X (in this case "Hustler") is covered, but with the
total time and materials budget of the library versus the value of the
specific materials acquired.  For example, if the library staff used up
three hours ordering "Hustler," arranging with you for the payment,
cataloging the acquisition, etc., and thereby delayed pursuing missing
issue claims on issues of three other magazines specifically requested or
heavily used by patrons (say, "Curve," "The Advocate," and "Highlights"!)
then either someone has to go into overtime or the
specifically-known-useful magazines are delayed.  This reduces the
goodwill (and potentially the Friends of the Library contributions) of the
fans of the other magazines.  That's opportunity cost -- you lost a chance
to do something else of benefit. 

If it then turns out that no library patron actually wants "Hustler," the
continuing staff time to receive the issues and shelve them is a total
waste of time.  And that is a cost.  In particular, it is an opportunity
cost if the staff time to shelve takes away from replacing, say, "Desert
Hearts" and "The Bear" (just to mention two of my favorite movies) on the
video shelf.  (No, not THAT kind of bear...!)

Opportunity cost is a lot more individually case-determined than whether a
specific item is free in the first place.  Try offering some other free
publication like "SunWorld Developer News" and see how many libraries take
you up on it.  There's plenty of free stuff out there it just isn't worth
the time to collect and catalog and claim on a continuing basis.

> Also, your argument acknowledges that librarians consider pornography less
> appropriate than other things, nearly admiting that there is an
> appropriateness issue with "Hustler" in libraries.

So?  Of course there's an appropriateness issue with every publication.
Specific libraries may consider specific pornographic publications less
appropriate than other things for their patrons.  I think if you're
serving, say, an undergrad population in Women's Studies, then "Hustler" 
would actually be a valid collection decision.  Or, of course, if your
Film Studies curriculum includes "People vs. Larry Flynt." 

Elsewhere, why get "Hustler" any more than "Journal of the West"?  Each
has its adherents, but in any specific clientele the interest may just not
be there.  There's just as much an appropriateness issue with "Journal of
the West" as with "Hustler" from a collection development standpoint.  I
don't know why it would be strange that appropriateness would be an issue;
collecting materials appropriate to a specific population of users (the
specific library's clientele) is what collection development is all about.
This is why you don't see all the latest Danielle Steels in your local
university library, but you see multiple copies in the public library. 

Of course, thinking back to the days when "Byte" was first collected by
the UC Berkeley library, the current issue was always missing.  In the
bound issues of journals, everything having to do with platinum catalysts
for reactions that could remotely have to do with making cocaine was
missing, and all the suggested readings for the undergraduate molecular
biology courses were missing.  I don't suppose the librarians ever knew
(or yet know) about most of this, or they would have undertaken to replace
the missing texts. I can just imagine how hopeless it would have been to
try to keep "Hustler" in the collection.

Opportunity cost again, chasing down and replacing lost copies of past
issues.  Suddenly something "free" in the first place is not necessarily
so free down the road.  

Another opportunity cost issue:  once the library subscribes for "free,"
they get on a mailing list for plenty of other offers, right?  Someone has
to open or at least decide to toss that mail.  Is that time better spent
on other things, or not?  The individual library and its patrons' needs
decide.

And so the library has come to the end of the "free" subscription.  Now
the question is whether to renew.  Well, now it is not free.  Does the
library renew because its patrons actually want this subscription?  Or
does it renew just to strike a blow for free speech?  Or does it not renew
because the publications in demand already consume the entire serials
budget?  If it doesn't renew because other serials are more pressingly
required, what of the patrons who did use it?  It's the same old question
libraries continually face with initial free offers and trial
subscriptions to electronic databases and other wonderful "pilot
projects."

To end my assorted musings I guess I'll just mention that there's no
particular reason why library collection development policies ought to be
set aside to make room for this offer any more than they should be
overridden by the fact that some local bigwig has "donated" to the library
the complete set of works on how abortion, homosexuality, and Zionism are
such evil satanic threats that yada yada yada.  If Filtering Facts is
devoted to making all information available in all libraries, then it is
going to have to go a long way past free "Hustler" subscriptions.  If on
the other hand it's dedicated to respecting the professionalism of
collection development librarians in the face of censorship pressure, then
please don't taunt librarians who in their professional judgement find the
"Hustler" offer, like many free offers, outside the scope of their
libraries' collection development efforts. 

Genny Engel
gen at dla.ucop.edu