HIT: Library VS. B&N Part 3

[Carolyn Gierke <cgierke@SHS.K12.NY.US>]

Even more.  AND the FINAL edition:

I've thought a lot about this one.  Here's what I think the major
difference is.  When a book is a hot bestseller, Barnes and Noble gets a
gazillion copies of it to sell and make money.  They win if everyone can
get
the latest book immediately, and then they sell it out.  If a library buys
a
gazillion copies of the hot best seller, it uses its entire budget on one
title and has a gazillion left when the book is dead.  This means that we
can't meet the needs of an audience that wants the hot new item.  Instead,
we
meet the needs of people who want a range of literature and research
materials from the past and present.  (Nobody would go to Barnes and Noble
for three sources on grasshoppers for a child's report, but I have them
right
here on my shelf.  Nobody would go to Barnes and Noble for information on
the
women in Wordsworth's life, but I found four through my public library
when
writing a college paper.)  We are a whole different animal, less hip,
perhaps, but also less dependent on what's in print today.  Does that make
sense - and would it make sense to the questioner?
-----
I'm not sure it's a response, but it is true that book stores get a much
greater discount on books than libraries do. Maybe with bigger discounts we
could have more books.
---
I am not sure what the original question was BUT...

the Library revolves around the Librarian as a professional...not
necessarily what she can afford in her collectio, coffee or music.  In a
bookstore you don't get a professional librarian who will go hither and yon
to find you the information you need, or a person who can do a "reference
question" to find out what it is you really as asking for, or the
professional who can suggest different types of media for different
learning styles...for me this supercedes all else.  Bookstores are
commercial...their business is to sell; our is to serve.
-----


"In theory, there isn't any difference between theory and practice.  In
practice, there is."  - Yogi Berra

Mrs. Carolyn Gierke,  Librarian
Sweet Home High School
1901 Sweet Home Road
Amherst, NY  14228
Phone: 1-716-250-1227
FAX:    1-716-250-1360
email:  cgierke@shs.k12.ny.us

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