Selecting a Vendor - Weebly
Kathryn Gomard
ILS 519 Collection Development
Unit 2 Selecting a Vendor Assignment
Dr. Arlene Bielefield
September 22, 2008
As Director of Midwest Library, there were several priorities I established for choosing a primary book vendor for our new library facility. The vendor would be one that could supply an opening day collection, as well as provide ongoing collection development and maintenance and acquisition services. Our community is growing. Considering the Computer Company’s impact on community needs, population growth, education demands, and public services, it is important for the library to continue to be viewed as a mainstay and focal point of community life, responsive to resident’s needs. Therefore, the collection and services presented in our library must be supported by a book vendor who can work with our system and staff and be responsive to its needs. The priorities are:
• Large, diverse inventory for public libraries – ability to respond with quick shipments and order fulfillment
• Large number of publisher relationships providing for well-rounded public library collections
• Customer Service – Efficient, effective, accessible order management, problem resolution, personalized approach, toll-free access
• Standardized electronic ordering and invoicing
• System integration – for collection analysis and records uploading
• Accurate AACR2 catalog records
• Opening Day Collection
• Best and highest discounts
• Publisher reviews and recommended buying lists
• Materials processing – shelf ready materials to save time, effort and staffing needs
Several vendors serving public libraries were examined for this exercise – Regent Book Company, Baker & Taylor, Ingram Book Services, Brodart Co., , Barnes and , and Library Bounds Inc. Closest scrutiny was done with Brodart, Ingram and Baker & Taylor, with Baker & Taylor winning the contract. Regent and Library Bounds were eliminated primarily due to lack of diverse inventory and ability to respond to a growing library; Library Bounds was eliminated also due to shipping problems between the U.S. and Canada; Amazon and Barnes and Noble were essentially eliminated due to their lack of comprehensive service to libraries; and Ingram and Brodart, while serious contenders, were overshadowed by an overwhelming dominance and wide-ranging capability, as well of peer recommendation of Baker & Taylor. A review of all of the listed vendors provided insights into specialty needs that potential secondary suppliers could satisfy, as well as how each vendor might best serve the short and long range needs of Midwest Library.
The large inventories of both Barnes and Noble and Amazon were attractive for quick turnaround of small order needs. A database of millions of titles includes reviews from multiple professional sources, helpful for quick reference and title comparison. Often it is possible to “look inside” and preview new material table of contents. Barnes and Noble’s “Top 100” and “Book Browse”, a search tool by subject including books in Spanish, allows searching by format, publisher, price range, awards, etc. Barnes and Noble boasts 1.2 million titles in-stock, including the worlds’ largest supply of textbooks, with pricing up to 40% off. Pricing is available online to library accounts through a library website where purchasing can be done by purchase order. Accounts are serviced by dedicated Barnes and Noble live library account representative by phone or email. There appears to be no processing or catalog records available.
Amazon offers everything that Barnes and Noble does, and much, much more – millions of titles in stock, and numerous recommended and genre book lists. Additionally, Amazon now offers library services, including processing (although presently limited to 13 books/order) and MARC records. Because of its affiliation with small and private book dealers, Amazon is useful for retroactive buying, where out-of-print, used books are readily located. As a retailer, Amazon’s pricing is as listed by item, with the promise of no further discounts even for bulk buying.
What is attractive at both Regent Book Company and Library Bounds Inc. is their personality, accessibility, dedicated customer service, user friendly websites, photos of staff at work, and staff picks (“Tracy’s Pick” and “Matt’s Pick’s” at LBI). Regent prides itself on providing “the best service in the Industry”, including cataloging and processing, custom accelerated reader disks, customized billing, fully returnable (!) orders, Regent library binding, 3-day turnaround, prompt voice service, and a high fill rate. In-stock titles from over 200 publishers and popular public library offerings, especially for school age children’s literature and award winners makes Regent highly attractive and might be considered as a secondary source for the YA and children’s departments. It would be prudent for these department heads to meet with a company rep and review quality of bindings and special offers program.
Canadian book vendor, Library Bounds Inc., would not be considered by Midwest as a primary vendor because of potential international shipping problems. However, LBI is worth reviewing for its user friendly website, personalized collection development, cataloging and processing, system integration services, personal approach, and most decidedly for its diverse non-English materials. Library Bounds fulfills print material “from board books to encyclopedias”, bestsellers, new releases, and multilingual products in 24 languages. Even though turnaround times, fill rates and inventory are not listed on the website, Library Bounds is worth considering as a prime vendor for multilingual resources.
Ingram Library Services, Brodart Co. and Baker & Taylor all boast superior, comprehensive, personalized, and professional services for public libraries and all are held in high regard by librarians. While Brodart is attractive for its McNaughton rental plan, and everything from library furniture to electronic ordering systems, and Ingram’s blog Interact, offering free access to podcasts and interviews of collection development librarians, product buyers, and today's authors, it was Baker & Taylor’s comprehensive service approach and inventory of materials that more closely supported Midwest’s growth needs.
With 180 years of history, Baker & Taylor (B& T) claims to have the “most comprehensive selection of titles” in the industry, 800,000 in-stock books and relationships with over 65,000 publishers. Baker & Taylor’s vast range of business offerings can easily be tailored to serve libraries of all sizes.
B & T’s Customized Library Services (CLS) offers a project oriented approach to library services, especially relevant to Midwest as a new library facility. Librarian peer reports are confirmed in the CLS promotional video, which in lieu of an on-site inspection provides convincing argument for a customer-centered plan for all aspects of library requirements. As Director, I feel the selection of B & T will be regarded by the Board of Directors as a smart choice vendor who can grow with, anticipate and fulfill Midwest’s development and need to respond to a growing and more diverse user population. Baker & Taylors’ Opening Day Collection, powered by TitleSource 3 bibliographic database can respond to Midwest’s construction timeline by developing the selection tools, reviews, cataloging and processing specifications to develop a shelf-ready collection. If construction is delayed, B & T will store shrink-wrapped, labeled pallets until Midwest is ready for delivery.
Baker & Taylor offers two main avenues for ongoing collection development (CD), Notification Programs and Automatic shipments. FirstLook is an automatic monthly notification of high-visibility new and forthcoming titles that offers three customizable levels of discovery of new and forthcoming titles. Free topical selection lists are available for browsing to all customers via online quick links. Automatic shipment programs are designed for new releases and bestsellers, as well as genres and topics of interest. What level of access and customizing capability is determined generally by what online ordering tool Midwest chooses to use. As Director, I need to learn about the cost for the subscription programs and weigh them against the time and cost for Midwest to perform CD. My peers highly recommend FirstLook and TitleSource 3 for the multiple selection criteria, full-text reviews, and order management and reporting capability in keeping their libraries collections current and vital.
I would not recommend Automatically Yours, a customized auto-ship program for genres and new releases initially in favor of retaining order control. However, B & T’s Continuation Services for standing orders would be of interest to keep Midwest’s series collection up-to-date and relieve librarians of the task. I would encourage all my librarians to access the extensive list of B & T publications, where crucial information for selection of hot new releases and forthcoming titles in a variety of themes are available and regularly updated.
Beyond the Opening Day order, the comprehensive processing services offered by B & T will be examined for cost effectiveness. Opening an order and having shelf-ready material is very attractive, and would save staff time in processing and cataloging. Options are available to suit, design or establish labeling, bar-coding and jacket covers. Since B & T offers state-of-the-art cataloging compatible to virtually any software system, downloading MARC records directly to our system format is appealing. Again, Midwest must carefully weigh out costs, but it may be prudent to retain B & T’s technical processing services for at least a trial period while the library is acclimating to a new environment.
As an answer to Brodart’s attractive leasing plan, Baker & Taylor also offers Book Leasing, an opportunity to temporarily fill popular book demand for adult, children’s, YA, and spiritual titles at a cost lower than purchasing, especially attractive for multiple copies of notable, award winning and popular titles and authors. Compubook is a program offering leasing of computer, financial, gaming, utilities, internet, networking, and electronics titles chosen by computer book buying specialists. Since Computer Company is expanding into the neighborhood, we hope to establish a cooperative and supportive role by making relevant materials available for their employees.
Customer Service and order entry are available by phone on toll-free lines from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Online customer support, online ordering tools, titles searches, and account are all available 24/7, a feature attractive to staff for evenings when the library is open late.
Baker & Taylor’s website interface is relatively simple to follow, without being too multi-layered as Brodart’s is, although the font size and style are small and difficult to read. A registered user interface presumably would be easier to use once program options are selected.
Questions to be answered by the account representative for my area include website training, service orientation, billing and account management, order tracking, spending reports, and departmental ordering reports. I will also need to confirm my inside sales rep for books and A/V materials, customer service rep, and Collection Development Project Manager. Since I am currently not a customer, my access to information about these areas was limited. However, this director feels Baker & Taylor’s service oriented and customized approach will fulfill vendor priorities for Midwest Library.
Learning about the features and specific service options of book vendors is an important process when modifying or establishing library selection and ordering procedures and requirements. This exercise has illuminated the fact that no one vendor does it all, but the competitive nature of the industry has developed vendor services that offer comprehensive business packages that can accommodate most library needs. Establishing specific library acquisition and collection needs and goals relative to library practices history and long range goals allows a more targeted and informed approach to vendor selection, whether for primary or supplemental materials and services.
References
Baker & Taylor. “CLS”. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from
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Evans, G. Edward, and Saponaro, Margaret Zarnosky. (2005). Developing Library and Information
Center Collections. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Hoffert, Barbara. (2007, Sept. 1). “Who’s Selecting Now? As Phoenix Public Library boldly passes
on selection responsibilities to its vendors, some libraries follow – others dig in.” Library
Journal. .
Library Bound Inc. website. Retrieved September 14, 2008 from
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“Library Services” on the Barnes and Noble website. Retrieved September 17, 2008 from
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“Public Libraries” on the Baker & Taylor website. Retrieved September 15, 2008 from
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“Public Libraries: Programs & Services” on the Ingram Library Services website. Retrieved
September 15, 2008 from .
Regent Book Company website. Retrieved September 17, 2008 from
“Serving Public Libraries” on the Brodart Co. website. Retrieved September 16, 2008 from
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“The Librarians’ Store” on . Retrieved September 17, 2008 from
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