More questions from my favorite mentoree arrived today.  So ….. Prepare for another tsunami of text 🙂  Glad to see that there are 2 folks out there finding it useful.  Thanks for your comments Dana & Priscilla.  Here goes….

“So you don’t use any other vendors?  Should I stick with the orders I’ve created with the vendors or abandon it for something more favorable?”

I use a number of vendors for reference orders – Gale, ABC-Clio, Salem Press are probably the main ones.  It is for the general circulating books that I stick with B&T.  If I had a ton of money – I MIGHT order from other vendors.  I just find it more efficient and a better use of my money to send just a few big orders  to B&T.  They sell from almost every publisher you would want.  If you are happy with the orders you have already set up – go for it.  If they don’t provide full processing though – I’d reconsider.  More on that later.

“Do you ever preview books?  I’ve gotten a lot of calls about that and I keep telling them no.  As far as I can tell there’s no reason to preview books because you have to go through all the trouble of sending them back if you don’t want them (even though it’s free to return).  It’s just a hassle I don’t want to deal with.”

I think previewing books is  a waste of time.  It’s a hassle to send them back.  Also – I would rather depend on reviews rather than looking through the books  quickly, since I would not have time to actually read and evaluate them.  Also – from what I hear, these books tend to be ones that did not sell well and so the publishers have sold them to preview vendors at a discount.  Many are out of date.  I always stop the vendor right when they first introduce themselves and ask if the books are for preview.  I let them know that I just do not preview books.  Bottom line though – the most important reason I don’t preview books is because of the temptation to keep them.  My tiny  budget could be gone in no time if I were to do that.  I prefer my card system where I can compare ALL possible books and pick the “best of the best”.  Previewing would mess that up.

“Library Media Connection.  How much is that subscription? “

I am not sure.  You could check with EBSCO or some other periodical jobber.  Is that how your current magazines were ordered – through a jobber (subscription service) where you can order all the titles from one place?  They give decent discounts and it is much more convenient than ordering subscriptions individually.  EBSCO probably has a website.  Make sure it is the subscription service – not the database division.

“Do you think I should spend less money on non-fiction titles?  Our non-fiction section is terrible.  The books are SO old.  I was going to focus on getting non-fiction resources and biographies since we have a biography project for 6th grade and some of the other projects this year have depended on biographies.  I’ve spend about $600 in fiction so far this year because of my Scholastic dollars.  I think I have about $250 left there and I have another book fair coming up in the spring.”

I think you have to look at your collection and decide what’s most in need.  I DO see reference going the way of the dinosaur and going to completely on-line.  I think circulating non-fiction aimed at research will not be far behind.  But some students still prefer usinig books.  It is a hard decision.    But if you see a need right now for non-fiction – then use more for non-fiction.  Once you have a year or 2 under your belt, you will come to know the projects that need the most support.  Also,  you will have a better handle on what your students’ needs are.  And the book fair should definitely help.  Wish scholastic did one for high school.

“Is trade a paperback or hardcover?  I do have a system in place to make my paperbacks last longer.  I tape them with Gaylord tape (we did that at the public library).  The tape is rather pricey but I know for a fact the books last a long long time.  Where do you send the books to be rebound?  I do know how to do some book repair and I’m starting to teach it to the aide so hopefully I can prevent books from totally falling apart.  The biggest commitment there is the time not the money (at least not after the initial investment).”

A trade edition is hardcover.  A library edition is also hardcover – but has a significantly more durable cover and heavier stitching.    Great for the hard use of elementary students.  Not so needed at high school.  Middle school?  Maybe, maybe not….

I can always give you the name of our bindery.  I can’t remember it and I am at home at the moment.  It is in Syracuse.  It’s pretty easy to ship them off and get the job done.  We don’t do any book repair here other than taping here and there.  We’d rather spend the time teaching and working with the kids.  They are what make our job so much fun.

“I know Follett has TitlleWave and has some nice features for suggesting books to buy.  Have you ever used it?  Do you think you could use one against the other?  Follett for ideas B&T for ordering?  Or is it exclusive? (i.e. must order from Follett).”

I am sure you could use TitleWave to get ideas and then go to B&T  for ordering.  Follett would probably not be happy to hear me say that 🙂

“What does it mean to have books come fully processed?  How much of the work do they do for you?”

The book jobber or vendor does virtually everything.  You set up specs with them to follow the processing pattern in your library.  When you set up the specs – that is the time to consider changes.  For instance, I recently changed our pattern for fiction from F and the author letters, to FIC and the author letters.  I have no intention of “fixing” all the books already on the shelf with F – but at least the catalog says FIC,  which the kids find easier to understand.  I also changed B for biography to BIO for the same reason.  Anyway – once your call number specs are set up – they always process your books according to your requirements.  So – mine come with the dust covers covered with a plastic cover and taped to the book.  They have a pocket pasted in the back (can be in the front if you set up your specs that way) a barcode on the book and a spine label.  Ours also come with a security strip because we have a security system. I have paperbacks set up to be covered with a very heavy duty plastic cover.

So – when the order arrives, we unpack the books, make sure they have sent the books we ordered, stamp them with our address stamp, download the marc records into the catalog from the B&T page and shelve the books.  That’s it.  No covering, typing spine labels, pasting book pockets etc.  Saves us HOURS.  I order mine with ONE catalog card.   I do that so I can see the assigned  subjects at a glance.  I write in the subjects on the card, and then give  the card to my assistant.  From there,  she can add the subjects into the catalog.   Sometimes I change the dewey number and she makes that change in the catalog as well.  In that case – she has to redo the spine label and tape it.  Still – we can get an order on the shelves in a day or so at the most.

Whew!!  That’s all for now folks!!