Have you ever wondered how libraries get their books? Do they go and buy books, or is there more behind the scenes? What about contracts and discounts? Within this post, I’ll briefly touch on the ways a book ends up in a library and how that might shift depending on the format of the book or the purpose of the library (school, public, research).
The key players in acquiring books for a library are none other than librarians. If a library is large or within a larger system, there might be a dedicated team to pick out books. There are many ways for books to be put into the hands of a library. The first way is for libraries to go directly through a distributor or wholesaler.
Definition Detour:
Distributor – A company that warehouses and sells books to bookstores, libraries, and wholesalers on behalf of publishers. Distributors handle the logistics of shipping and delivery, and manage billing and consolidate costs on the publisher or author’s behalf.
Wholesaler – A company that buys books from publishers, usually in high numbers, and then sells these books to bookstores and libraries at a discount.
A good way to distinguish between the two is that a wholesaler works for book buyers, bookstores, and other businesses, while a distributor works for the publisher or author.
These terms can often be mistaken, and they both have a way of connecting directly with the library. At this point, it depends on the library and its standing relationship with a small press or local distributor, as well as ease of use and budget. Ingram Content Group is a big name in the industry as a wholesaler for authors, publishers, libraries, and retailers. Ingram is also a hot spot for indie authors as it offers deals for authors to connect with retailers and libraries, giving more options for those who may not have the resources of a publisher.
A benefit to ordering from a distributor or wholesaler like Ingram is that they can send books already barcoded and ready for shelving. Getting books from a bookstore or online can mean prepping the book once in the library.
This leads to another way for libraries to acquire books, which is simply buying them from local bookstores and entering them into the system. This could be more common at school libraries or libraries that work independently. For example, within Portland Public Schools, each school individually selects the books they order online from school distributors and stores. This could be based on student requests or new curriculum and standards. On the other hand, Multnomah County Library has an operations center that handles much of the buying and selection process, and then sends them out to branches.
Beyond all the ways physical books are acquired, there is a whole world of ebooks. After COVID, library ebooks skyrocketed in use and requests. In 2020, the Denver Public Library’s digital checkouts jumped from 20 percent to 60 percent (gross increase). Not to get too much into numbers and data, but ebooks are in an interesting position regarding legality and contracts. I mean, I know this has come up for me, where I think to myself, why do I even have to wait for an ebook, can’t the library just provide unlimited copies? Unfortunately, this is not the case. Digital distribution rights are sold to third-party vendors (a common one you may have heard of for ebooks is OverDrive), who then sell lending rights to the libraries. Libraries are then only able to lend out however many “copies” of the ebook were purchased, one at a time, like any other physical book.
I hope this overview proved to be informative and gave you a better insight into how hardworking our libraries are and how much they care for their readers and community!
Back Matter
Fact: Denver Public Library ebook requests, how ebooks get to libraries.
Fact: Ingram and Indie authors