[OPLINLIST] Methods of acquiring library materials

[Dorrie Russell Sacksteder]

A question for those in collection development and acquisitions...

What methods do you use/have available to you to purchase materials 
for your library collection when the item(s) wanted are not available 
through a regular jobber such as Ingram or Baker & Taylor? This is 
when you wish to acquire them for permanent inclusion in the 
collection (not ILL or other resource sharing method).

I ask because: I am the Librarian for a nonprofit in Ohio that, among 
other things, publishes guides on current social and political topics 
for use in citizen discussion groups. They would like to see their 
guides purchased by Ohio public libraries as a way to reach a wider 
audience, but the conversations they have had with area libraries 
have suggested that unless the guides are carried by a wholesaler 
such as B&T, Ohio libraries will not purchase them. Upon learning 
this, the publications department at our nonprofit came to me for guidance.

I've worked in several Ohio public libraries over the past 24+ years, 
and I don't remember anything like this. Are you limited by 
contractual obligations with wholesalers? Restrictions on use of a 
corporate credit card (which may be necessary to make some online 
purchases)? Or is this a library-by-library thing? A contract with a 
wholesaler, even a wholesaler willing to work with a small publisher 
(20-30 books a year) such as us, might not be feasible.

Reply to list or me, doesn't matter. Replies that come to me I can 
summarize for the list.

Thanks so much,

Dorrie

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Dorrie Russell Sacksteder, M.S.L.S.
dorrie at jdfiles.org