[Publib] Book buying policy

[John]

Generally, we will order about 99% of what people request.  Maybe that percentage is too high, but maybe not.  If something is *very* pricey ($50 or $60 and above), the Grand Exalted Director, in consultation with the Grand Exalted Not-the-Director-but-People-Who-Sport-the-Title-of-Librarian, will make a wise decision.  Or if something is so truly academic that only one person might check it out, we go the ILL route.  We even order Harlequin-type paperback romances for people, though we've had to limit one patron to no more than three to five titles per month; if not, we would own ALL the pb romances with Texas cowboys taking care of babies, et al., and then some.  We make some judgement calls on TV series on DVD and magazine subscriptions--I know: I am straying from the topic of books--but we really do try to accommodate patrons' wishes if we've got the money.

Now that OJ is out of the picture (thank you, O non-gender-specific divine being who is a power greater than ourselves, as we understand you, etc.!)...we received a request for Courtney Love's (whoever she is; I watch PBS and "60 Minutes," so I'm ignorant, and don't really want to know who she is) alleged memoirs, with Mizz Luuuuvvv rather provocatively, yet faux chastely, displayed on the front cover--and this, from a woman who usually is researching soil sampling in ancient Mesopotamia or how to grow yams suspended in mid-air from a clothesline--the yams, not the patron--and other esoteric topics, the likes of which I just made up (but they're not *very* made up).  One never knows...and so we have ordered Courtney.  I wonder if anyone will comment.

John D. Richmond, Director
Alpha Park Public Library District
3527 So. Airport Road
Bartonville, IL 61607-1799
Ph: (309) 697-3822, x. 12
Fax: (309) 697-9681
E-mail: jrichmond at alphapark.org
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"The past is never dead.  It's not even past." 
Wm. Faulkner, REQUIEM FOR A NUN