Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
They cater overmuch to a subset of their patrons, to the detriment of other patrons who have no interest in romance.
I suspect libraries like romance because it boosts their circulation numbers. The books are quick reads and are consumed like potato chips; they're also cheaper to acquire. I admit I get discouraged when I check the new additions and it's virtually all romance.
I think libraries should shift their focus to treating all their patrons in a roughly equitable fashion; they should try to meet at least all mainstream interests to the same level of satisfaction. And if someone reads five romance novels a week, say, I bet that purchase price would add up to the price of a history book that one patron took two weeks to read.
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The problem is that most libraries are on a budget. They can only afford to buy so many new books in a given year. And they aren't likely to buy books that they don't think their patrons will actually read. So if only say 5% of their patrons will read a given genre but 55% will read another given genre they will buy to meet the tastes of the 55% rather than the 5%.