When a Vending Machine Speaks
By Lillian N. Gerhardt, Editor-in-Chief -- School Library Journal, 6/1/1997
Martin Marzala, MLS, is the Manager of Collection Development Services for Baker & Taylor, the book wholesaler, which now describes its company as offering "information and entertainment services." He wrote on the subject of book reviews in library work for the April issue of B&T's CDI, which stands for collection development information. Only the wicked translate that into "let B&T do your library book selection for fun and profit."
Mr. Marzala, MLS, deplores the fact that "many collection development librarians spend hours poring over trade media, and use the comments of the reviewers as their main decision mechanism." He says, "I suspect that, like many aspects of librarianship, this practice continues because it is tradition." He warns against the use of reviews as the sole source for purchasing decisions because that "greatly reduces the significance of other criteria such as your community library's population, income level, ethnic and special interest groups, etc."
Then comes the assertion that the annotations in B&T's forecasts are as good as the reviews in Kirkus Reviews or Library Journal. Mr. Marzala suggests B&T's annotations are probably better than reviews because they "include two key attributes frequently neglected in popular journals, namely first print runs and advertising budgets. "Why," he asks, "wait for a review when much could be gained by relying on other equally valuable selection criteria?"
This poor soul needs help. He can no longer see the difference between his company's bookselling catalog and librarians' reviews in LJ. He confuses review evaluation criteria with librarians' analyses of community reader needs and interests. There's something pitiful about a librarian who actually believes publishers' forecasts of print-run size and marketing budgets. But, it's Mr. Marzala's tragic ignorance of a central tradition in library service that can move you to tears -- if you haven't got anything better to do.
Using the word "tradition" to connote a group belief passed from generation to generation from time immemorial, there is one in library service that took root centuries ago and it's not the use of book reviews. This belief, tested by time and hardened by experience, is that librarians should not put any faith in the book evaluations or selection guidance of the people who profit from book sales. Wholesalers, their library discount shell games, and their puffs condensed from publishers' catalogs have contributed mightily to this conviction, which is why librarians wait for published reviews, expert subject bibliographies, and lists of titles recommended by national organizations of other professions, etc.
Most librarians bring a healthy skepticism to information on book marketing. Big print run? Lots of advertising? When you know this, all you know is that a barrage of publicity could produce short-term demand. If the print run is small and the advertising nil, it usually means that the title is by a first-time author, or it's poetry or a book intended for children or adolescents. As "key attributes" go, these do not unlock any insights about a book's content or its value to readers.
In any library that aspires to a collection purpose that rises above the level of a run-of-the-bestseller-list rental collection, book selection requires time, thought, interaction with customers, and a knowledge of books intelligently applied.
Book reviews, especially those written by and published for librarians, continue to be a reliable source of help to library selectors. However, you can understand why such book reviews must jangle the nerves of the book wholesaler vending machines lining up to gorge on your book budget. These reviews would induce some critical thinking about the quality of titles shipped to stuff your shelves and thus endanger the wholesaler's profit margin. Therefore, book reviews should be condemned, discounted, and stamped out. Right?
Not on your MLS, Mr. Marzala.
Renée Olson
Editor-in-Chief
rolson@slj.cahners.com
