They Look Like Libraries!

This article focuses on the impact of chain bookstores on the bookselling industry and libraries in the U.S. The publicity captured by the new approach of chain bookstores to retailing simulated librarians' imaginations. Taking a new look at traffic patterns, librarians learned methods to direct the flow so browsers could discover library treasures. Libraries that tied these techniques found their circulation increased and were proud. It seems bookstores have discovered library techniques, and that old library staple, the backlist. While chain bookstores look like libraries, they look like well-merchandised libraries. The revolution in these new stores is that they carry more older titles. Libraries have always been aware of the need to serve both the browser and the information-seeker. Some libraries, as a cost-saving measure, have curtailed replacement buying. One of the keys to the new attention to the backlist by bookstores is that computer stocking methods now allow for much easier recording of older titles. This trick is not easy for libraries. It is hard to know when to record a book that keeps returning. The new revolution in bookselling should be a reminder of how important it is to identify and replace heavily used older titles and to find more effective ways to do so.