[ILL-L] Popular book

[Campbell, Heather]

We, too, get innundated with requests for certain titles.  At the
moment- all of our current crop of FRTs (Frequently Requested Titles)
are in print and most of them are available in paperback- though some of
those trade paperbacks can get pricey. They include all of Zane's, Eric
Jerome Dickey's, Teri Woods', Omar Tyree's, Carl Weber's, Nikki
Turner's, R A Salvatore's, Terry Goodkind's, Harlan Coben's, Donald
Goines' books & this is just a sampling.  Popular non-fiction titles
include Alkalize or Die by Theodore Baroody, 40 Years a Hooker by Frank
Mundus, Lifeforce by Jeffery McCoombs, and all of Catherine Ponder's
books. All (though I haven't checked on Frank Mundus' book recently) are
still in print. I fully understand the poster's frustration.  Just
before Stanley " Tookie" Williams' execution and for a few months
afterwards, we were innudated with requests coming from across the
country for Blue Rage, Black Redemption.  JPL owned two copies and one
of them was missing.  Our local customers wanted to read the book and
our  ILL customers were demanding it as well.  When the films came out,
we received a lot of requests for JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings titles
and for C S Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  As the former
Fiction Librarian for Main, I consider these books to be among the basic
purchases/restock titles for libraries.  These requests aren't just
coming from small libraries- they're coming from libraries of various
sizes and types from across the country.  

If the cost of borrowing an ILL book is -what- $20-$30 for each book, it
probably is more cost-effective to purchase than to borrow.  There's
been a Collection Development element to ILL here at JPL since I came on
board and we recommend the purchase of frequently requested titles to
Collection Development for purchase.  We figure that if someone is going
to the trouble to register for an ILLiad account and request it through
ILL,  it demonstrates a interest for that title.  When there are
multiple requests for a title, we probably need to purchase it.  

It would be easy for me and for my staff to sit in judgement when we get
requests for works by the same authors or repeated requests for
particular titles.  I know I indulge myself as I did one cold winter day
well before the movie came out when I said: "There's not a copy of The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ANYWHERE in New England?  Or do they
just want a thawed out copy?"  But judging is not our job, saps our
energy, and we truly don't know what led to the request being made.  It
may be the only time that library will ask us for that title.  It may be
that the book selectors for the library will not purchase Urban Fiction
or that the demand is very limited.  It's anyone's guess; only the
borrowing library staff knows for sure.


Heather Campbell
Special Services ~ Interlibrary Loan and Books By Mail
Jacksonville Public Library
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
ill at coj.net    904-630-2985 


-----Original Message-----
From: ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:ill-l-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Leslie R. Morris
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 5:21 PM
To: Interlibrary Loan Listserv
Subject: Re: [ILL-L] Popular book


On Amazon, used copies sell for $44.00 to $185.00.

Leslie R. Morris
Editor
The Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve
38 Towne Sq. Dr.
Lancaster, NY  14086-9562
USA
716-681-8707
MORRISLR at niagara.edu

Failure is not a disaster. It is a learning experience.
A web site is a billboard on a road where no one drives
----- Original Message -----
From: "Barbara Jean Jones" <bjones at daltonstate.edu>
To: "Interlibrary Loan Listserv" <ill-l at webjunction.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 4:04 PM
Subject: [ILL-L] Popular book


> Since 2005, at least once a week and sometimes three times a day, we 
> receive ILL requests for the following book. Most of the time we can't

> lend it, because it's already on loan. 
> 
> Author: Vaknin, Samuel.; Rangelovska, Lidija. 
> Title: Malignant self love : narcissism revisited / 
> 
> If anyone wants to increase their ILL lending statistics, I suggest 
> purchasing a couple of copies.
> 
> Barbara Jones
> Dalton State College (ZHY)
> _______________________________________________
> ILL-L mailing list
> ILL-L at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/ill-l
>

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