RECENT HAWAII PRESS RE B&T

[Pat Wallace <DENWALL@AOL.COM>]

A few librarians in Hawaii are hand transcribing articles from
the local press re B&T and sending them to me so that I can
post them to members of the profession.  Here is their latest.
Press reaction is not available on the web.

Pat Wallace    denwall@aol.com

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Honolulu Advertiser  November 10, 1996  B1
(Focus Section)
Article written by William Hamilton
director of the University of Hawaii Press

"Latest books about Hawaii and the Pacific?  You won't find
them at state public libraries"

The furor surrounding State Librarian Bart Kane's decision
to let outside sources select books and other library materials
occurred while I was overseas.

 Little did I realize that, as a result of our aggressive global
sales posture and of Kane's outsoucing decision, UH Press books may be more
readily available to library patrons outside of Hawaii than within.  UH Press
has taken severe budget cuts since the state economy began spiraling
downward.  One mainstay through all of our adversity was the state library's
ongoing commitment to purchase each new University Press title in quantities
large enough to serve the reading interests of Hawaii's people.

       Under the conventional acquisitions system that relied on
experienced local librarians to order and circulate UH Press books, our
Hawaiiana titles were readily available at most state library branches. The
remaining parts of our publishing list, Pacific and Asian titles, were
ordered in sufficient amounts and placed in appropriate branch libraries.
There seemed to be agreement among the acquisitions librarians
that all UH Press books were an integral part of the state library
collection.

     Now, however, under the present outsourcing agreement, UH Press titles
do not seem to have the same value.  It seems as if the price of scholarship
is influencing the contracted vendor's purchasing decision, not the
information contained in the books.

        Before the new outsourcing contract took effect in March, the state's
acquisitions librarians routinely searched catalogs and the national and
local book review literature before deciding on what books and materials to
spend taxpayer dollars. But [now] library patrons wishing to borrow any
of the reviewed books  [are] challenged to locate copies at their local
branch and most likely ended up quite discouraged.

       I undertook an internal US Press study of the acquisitions level and
types of book orders we have received from the state library contractor,
Baker & Taylor of North Carolina, and
Booklines Hawaii, the local subcontractor responsible for supplying Hawaiiana
titles.  Both were customers of ours before they received the state library
system contract.  I found that the purchasing patterns for UH Press books by
both sources appear exactly the same today as before the contract was
awarded, when they served mainly the commercial book stores and did not have
responsibility for the state library system. There has been no discernible
increase in UH Press titles bought or quantities purchased to indicate that
the state library system is at present benefiting from the outsourcing
contract or is receiving a reasonable selection of our pulications.

         In addition, it appears that Booklines Hawaii is purchasing only
general-interest Hawaiiana priced within the $20.94 per book limit, the price
the state pays regardless of the actual purchase price.  When a New
England-based library jobber (Yankee Peddlar of New Hampshire) is ordering
for its Northeast U.S. customer libraries far more copies of selected
Hawaiiana titles than Booklines Hawaii is ordering for the Hawaii state
library sytem, something about the local arrangement is clearly askew.

          For 50 years we have focused our publishing program on building an
xtensive list of serious works on Hawaii; a list that preserves Hawaii's
history, native language and culture, and also explores the cultural milieu
of all ethnic groups who have enbraced the Hawaiian Islands. I naively
assumed that the state library carried out a similar
mission. It is discouraging to learn that so few of Hawaii's patrons will
have an opportunity to obtain UH Press's current and future publications now
that a book's price seems more important than its content.
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Honolulu Advertiser  October 29, 1996  B3
"BOE panel looks at library-book snafus"

 A Board of Education commitee yesterday said it wants to meet with
representatives of the company now under contract to select and purchase
all library books in the state system.
 The board's library committee also asked library administrators
for a progress report by next month on how the company, Baker & Taylor, is
performing.
 Several current and former librarians yesterday complained that
libraries are still receiving duplicate and unnecassary books, among other
problems.
 However, library administrators said they have had several
meetings with Baker & Taylor people and that many of the early problems
are being corrected.
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Honolulu Weekly   Volume 6, Number 45, Nov. 6-12, 1996 p.3 Letters to
Editor

Renee Ing writes:

"Book buying fiasco"

 The State Library book-buying fiasco illustrates the weird nature
of the current "Conventional wisdom" that government workers are
inefficient and lazy, and therefore privatization of public service will
cure all our ills.  No matter how good it is, Baker & Taylor in North
Carolina can't possibly know what's appropriate for Kahala and Kalihi.
Librarians--who take their public trust seriously--do know,
conscientiously building up the the libraries to appropriately serve the
public.  When using public money, government needs to regulate its
expenditure, seeing to its proper use and ensuring the public is served.
We can't let the profit motive waste scarce tax dollars on lambing and
Newt books.  It would further save the library system money to let
librarians directly place orders with Baker and Taylor--which I understand
the technology allows.  In the process, librarians can pay $4 for each of
the many, many numerous children's paperbacks they order--instead of
paying $20 for every book.  Instead of wasting money and energy defending
the total privatization of library book buying, why doesn't Kane save the
money paid to Baker and Taylor to select books, and save even more by
setting up a procedure that enables librarians to directly order books
libraries actually need, buying them at their actual (library-discounted)
prices?
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