[WEB4LIB] Re: Library affiliation with Barnes & Noble or

[CMUNSON]

Darryl wrote:
>Interesting response. A bit over the top, perhaps, but interesting.

You'd be over the top too if bookstore browsing isn't what it used to be. 
Every purchasing decision you make, be it for yourself or for your library, 
has a socioeconomic dimension.

>Say Chuck, does your library support the local "mom and pop" bookstore by 
doing all it's purchasing locally, or does it, like most libraries, buy from 
large scale wholesale outlets that are probably outside you city, and perhaps 
even your state or country?

I don't work in a library. But if your library isn't buying books from the 
local independent or the smaller distributors, then you are not promoting 
diversity in your library. A community cannot thrive intellectually on the 
Ingram approval plan.

>If not, then it's too bad you favouring these large vendors and trying to help 
put small bookstores out of business.

Good point. Why do libraries favor large distributors? What kind of 
diversity are they missing out on?

>The small bookstore is no different than any other (small) business; if it 
can't be competitive it won't last long. No one I wouldn't think) opens a 
little shop on the corner with the intention of putting the big players out of 
business. Sure, they carry (small volumes) of current material, but they all 
seem to have their niche - hard to find or out of print titles, locally 
written or locally published works - stuff Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble etc 
won't have.  Couple that with the number of people who don't have computers or 
don't like buying online, and realistically, how much money is it really taken 
away from the local economy, a few thousand dollars maybe?

But we have to be concerned with large corporations who damage our quality 
of life with their stupid need to maximize profits. It's not just a matter 
of local community economics, although that is important. It's the small 
publishers that don't carried by the chains and if you have no independent 
bookstore to go to, how are you going to discover alternatives?

Chuck0