[Publib] Advance[d] Reading Copies

[Judith Turner]

I bracketed the d in the subject heading because the sources I checked to make sure I was referring to the same term call these books advance reading copies.

My question is why don't you add advance reading copies (aka review copies) to the library collection, assuming the book is one you would acquire anyway?  Nowadays, they are copies of the first edition that are released early for publicity purposes so it's not a cataloging problem, except possibly in science-fiction where collectors consider them as the real first editions.  I frequently see public library books with a gift plate indicating it had been donated by a local newspaper. I've always assumed the book was a review copy that the paper passed along to the library.

I served as Book Review Editor for the quarterly magazine published by the museum where I worked and frequently received unsolicited review copies that didn't fit the editorial parameters of the magazine.  When these review copies fell within the library's broader collecting policy, I added them to the collection noting they were review copies for acquisitions purposes.  The books were always processed with gift plates indicating they were review copies.  My predecessors had been adding review copies to the library collection for over 20 years (and joked that getting to decide what happened to these books was the reason the Museum Librarian had to be the book review editor) so I was continuing an established practice.  

Whenever I requested a review copy from a publisher, as opposed to the unsolicited advance reading copies that arrived, I made certain I had a reviewer lined up and space in an upcoming issue for the finished review.  In such cases, the reviewer was free to keep the review copy in return for his or her work.   

Judy Turner
Whitefish Bay, WI



--- On Fri, 9/26/08, Margaret Neill <mneill at las-cruces.org> wrote:
From: Margaret Neill <mneill at las-cruces.org>
Subject: RE: [Publib] Advanced Reading Copies
To: "Danielle Chretien" <dmchretien at gmail.com>, publib at webjunction.org
Date: Friday, September 26, 2008, 3:05 PM




 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 







We let staff get first crack at them and
then put the rest out for the public in a “free book” truck.
Usually, it becomes a sort of lending library of its own- people bring back
older ARC and exchange them for new ones. But we never, ever put them in the
collection.  

   



Margaret M. Neill 

Library Manager, Technical Services and
Systems 

Thomas Branigan Memorial Library 

200 E. Picacho Ave.  

Las Cruces,
 NM 88001 

Office: (575) 528-4043 

Fax: (575) 528-4030 

mneill at las-cruces.org



      
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