Library affiliation with Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com

[Watts, Richard]

My library became an Amazon.com affiliate last fall, and have a link to
Amazon.com through our home page: 
(http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/library/)
We receive a small commission on each sale which is initiated from and
completed on our home page. We also have some recommended titles (PW
bestsellers and Ophra's Book Club selection for adults, and recommendations
from ALA and our youth service staff for kids) for which we receive a larger
commission.

I know that Tacoma, Wash. P.L. has an associate arrangement with Amazon.com,
and NY Public has one with Barnes & Noble. Are there other libraries out
there (public or academic) which have also established an affiliation with
an on-line bookseller?  Is there anyone who considered such an arrangement
but didn't follow through because of a legal opinion or the fear of
offending local booksellers?

Most of the chain bookstores (Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks)
have stores in cities in our very large county (the largest in the lower 48
states) which have independent city libraries, and which we do not directly
serve. These stores pay no property taxes to support our library system.
There is one Borders in a city which we do serve, but they have not
complained to us.  However, there is a small radio station in an isolated
desert community complaining that we are unfairly competing with "mom & pop"
bookstores.  Of course, we have been competing with video rental stores for
years, but that is not currently in dispute.

Please share any anecdotes or legal experiences with me at my personal
e-mail address below.  By the way, don't be shy about ordering something if
you visit our home page.


Richard S. Watts
Coordinator, Technical Services
San Bernardino County Library
104 W. Fourth St.
San Bernardino, CA 92415-0035
rwatts at lib.co.san-bernardino.ca.us
voice: 909-387-5733 fax: 909-387-5880