Average Book Prices '00: Replacing the Man on the Moon

Renee Olson, Editor-in-Chief -- School Library Journal, 3/1/2000

How much does it cost to buy a new book on space?

It's everywhere--that library book that predicts that man will one day land on the moon. It pops up in so many newspaper articles about aged library collections that I'm completely convinced it's because editors jump on their desks and yell, red-faced, eyes bulging, at reporters who fail to mention it. In fact, a January 19 Boston Globe article about the sad condition of Massachusetts library media center collections couldn't resist leading off with it.

I don't blame reporters for clinging to the man-on-the-moon story, but they also need to report on how much it costs to replace outdated books. On average, a youth book will cost $17.57 in 2000 (see table). Pair that with the fact that public schools in Philadelphia, for example, have just $5 per student to spend on library materials, and you have the real story.

In several categories, you'll find that prices actually dropped or rose only slightly. That's wonderful news. But the 2000 overall average book price rose significantly over 1999 largely because we introduced more series titles in our calculations for nonfiction for grades 5 and up to reflect the growing presence of these in library collections.

I'm tickled to report that average prices for adult books didn't skyrocket either. But to Gary Ink, research librarian at Publishers Weekly, that's not surprising. Publishers are interested in protecting a healthy sales climate, he says.

Could this be the last year that these figures include only books on paper? It's quite possible. By next year, we may see enough youth titles released in electronic form to look at those prices, too. It won't be pretty, at least if the price model comes from netLibrary, an up-and-coming e-book distributor. The company, which is just entering the youth market with a handful of ABC-CLIO titles and some 800 books from Rosen Publishing Group, will sell you an e-book for the same price as the paper copy--yessiree. But to that, it adds a one-time fee of 50 percent of the book's price to manage the electronic file and supply you with circulation reports. That means your book on space exploration--at an average cost of $21.26 for nonfiction--will now cost $31.89, after adding netLibrary's maintnance fee of $10.63.

Heart, be still.

Savvy librarians will, of course, negotiate better prices with netLibrary, just as they do with traditional distributors. But it's time for distributors

to participate in a price-comparison tool, similar to the one at www.bestbookbuys.com, which compares the cost of a title at 26 online bookstores. Another option is to apply the Priceline.com model to library materials. Draw up an order and submit it to your distributor with the price you're willing to pay. Then it's accepted⬠¦ or not, based on demand.

We need fair prices and e-commerce business models to help put an end to the man-on-the-moon problem. It's 2000. It's time.