LIBRARY MARKER OUTLOOK- Reference Books: Smallest Gains in Overall Soaring Book Prices.

This article presents the U.S. library market outlook as of April 1990. Reflecting the mounting inflationary pressures throughout the economy, book prices soared in 1989, 4.8 percent above the year before. Consumer prices also saw a double-digit jump in January 1990. Book publishers continue to pass along their higher supply costs in the form of higher book prices. It is important to note that the category of books that saw the greatest price increases is of little concern to librarians; textbook prices rose an average 6.6 percent per year from 1984 to 1989. What accounts for the price variance between different types of books? In some cases, the greater the demand for the type of book, the more a publisher can pass along the production costs to the customer. More importantly, however, is the grade of paper and technical aspects of the production process that determine the price of a book. Due to an oversupply situation, paper prices fell steadily in the last quarter of 1989 and will remain soft through at least the first half of this year. Cahners Economics expects paper prices to decline in 1990 before rebounding in 1991. This easing in paper prices should take some pressure off book publishers and their prices.