How Libraries Choose Books

The following is a document distributed to the media and authors by Washington State's King County Library System, said to be the second most used in the United States. I had contacted their collections development department intending to learn more about their overall acquisitions provess and plan, but Bruce Adams, to whom I had been referred, declined an interview and sent me this. I wrote to him again clarifying my interest in collections developpment in general, but he has not not replied.

Although this document is specific to KCLS it may offer you insights into how to best position your books, whether commercially or independently published. If you have had luck placing your book with a library, please leave a comment below.

Marketing Your Book to the King County Library System

For Small Presses and Local Authors
Revised 11/20/06

King County Library System actively seeks books that are written and/or published locally. We are especially interested in those about the Pacific Northwest. As a public library we select books whose content is written for the general reader rather than for the specialist or practitioner. We do not collect textbooks.

We accept primarily books that have been commercially published. Some indications of commercial publication are a sturdy binding, preferably with the title on the spine; a title page clearly stating (on either the front or the back) the author, title, publisher and date of publication; an International Standard Business Number (ISBN) listed somewhere on the book or the jacket; and a price listed on either the book or the jacket.

Because books in a public library get heavy and sometimes careless use from the public, we look for ones which are sturdily bound, preferably sewn or glued. Spiral and comb bindings do not stand up well in our setting. We cannot use books with pages designed to be filled in by the reader, or torn out. Books that include objects such as toys, or crafts kits are also not appropriate.

The best way to bring your book to our attention is through reviews. A positive review in one or more of the library review journals, such as Library Journal, School Library Journal (for children's books,) Kirkus, Booklist or Publisher’s Weekly or in The Seattle Times Sunday Northwest books review section will give your book an excellent chance of being bought by KCLS (and other public libraries as well.) See below for more information on the publications.

The next best ways to contact us are either a flyer mailed to the KCLS Service Center, or an e-mail which either describes the book or gives us the URL to your web site. Librarians generally have only a short amount of time to look at the information, so your best bet is to emphasize the essentials. We look for:

• WHAT the book is about. This should be brief and pithy.
• WHY the book is needed at KCLS. Here you should include quotations from reviews, or reader testimonials if you have them. If the book has been reviewed you could also attach a copy of the review or citation to it.
• WHO the intended audience is for this book. Is it intended for adults, young adults or children? Parents, business persons, hobbyists, etc.?
• WHO the author is. This should include qualifications, such as education, experience in the field, and experience as a writer. Be sure to mention that you are a local author or publisher, since this is a factor in our decision whether to buy.
• WHEN, WHERE, etc. the book was published. We need all the bibliographic data, including date of publication, price, ISBN (very important), edition statement, type of binding. If the book is self published, please give some indication of its physical appearance, including how it is bound.
• HOW we can get it. Libraries prefer to buy from wholesale vendors, such as Ingram, Brodart, Baker and Taylor, or, locally, Partners West. There are also national vendors that specialize in small press books, including Quality Books and Unique Books. We do buy new books from Amazon when the book is not available through other commercial vendors. If the book is only available directly from you, be sure to provide a phone number, address, and e-mail address if you have one. Be prepared to accept purchase orders, and to wait several weeks for payment. Also, you will need to supply a signed W-9 form for our Business Office.

We look at catalogs from local publishers as we have time. We really appreciate all of the bibliographic information listed above for each title, as well as indications of which titles are new.

Drop in visits are not encouraged. Our schedules are crowded, and you may end up wasting your time if no selection librarian is available when you arrive.

You many also want to consider being an exhibitor at library conferences. This is one way to reach many librarians in a short space of time. National conference such as the American Library Association can be overwhelming, but smaller ones such as Pacific Northwest Library Association and Washington Library Association attract many librarians from this area. See additional information below.

CONTACTS
Send flyers to:
Selection Department
King County Library System
960 Newport Way NW
Issaquah, WA 98027

Send e-mail to: nmcgill@kcls.org

For Information on how to submit a book for a review:

Booklist
50 East Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
http://www.booklistonline.com/

Kirkus
770 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/

Library Journal

360 Park Ave. S.
New York, NY 10010
http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/

Publisher's Weekly
360 Park Ave. S.
New York, NY 10010
http://publishersweekly.reviewsnews.com/

Seattle Times
Mary Ann Gwinn, Book Review Editor
206-464-2357
mgwinn@seattletimes.com

LIBRARY ORGANIZATIONS
The American Library Association conference planning calendar (http://www.ala.org/ala/confservices/upcoming/upcomingconferences.htm ) lists upcoming conferences. Information on exhibiting at each conference is available through the links for the individual events.

Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) has a web page (http://www.pnla.org/) which lists links to all of its member associations, and lists upcoming conferences.

For the Washington Library Association see: http://www.wla.org/conferences/

SMALL PRESS VENDORS
Quality Books
1003 W. Pines Road
Oregon, IL 61061-9680
800-323-4241
http://www.quality-books.com/

Unique Books
5010 Kemper Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63139
800-533-5446
http://www.uniquebooksinc.com/

LOCAL VENDORS
Partners West
1901 Raymond Ave. SW, Suite C
Renton, WA 98055
425-227-8486