Quote:
Originally Posted by Ripplinger
Has anyone else run into this? This just makes no sense to me. Even if they bought and paid for the hard cover books, they'd still have the same cost to tag them and get them into the system.
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Tagging and entering of books they purchase is probably attached to the purchase software system. Or at least, is automatically scheduled to be done after each purchase. Books entered from donations involve
- Checking to see if they already have this book
- Figuring out what category it goes into (fiction, nonfic, what dewey decimal #'s, etc)
- Figuring out what keywords get entered in the database, if it's not already there
- Checking the quality of the book to see if it's fit for library shelves (no highlighter, no obscene notes in the margins)
- Entering the book into their database manually, instead of inserting the ISBN in a spot that grabs that info from the distributor's database
... and probably a couple of other steps I'm not thinking of. Wrapping the cover in plastic?
I think it's a shame that libraries are turning down books; I don't believe the process I've described costs more than a new book. But it's
disruptive of the system, and not scheduled into either their time or money arrangements, and so it gets dropped.
There's a lot of places these days that opt for paying cash instead of doing labor, and then get upset when they notice funds are short. It's ridiculous for libraries, which often have the offer of volunteer labor to support them, and if they don't, they could probably put out a request for labor from whatever college or high school is nearby.