Library Distribution Is Not a Sale Promise

Separate availability and selection

A library-facing supplier can make a book orderable; it does not mean a library bought it or readers can borrow it. ALA acquisition guidance describes local selection policies, collection areas, and designated professional selectors. Final decisions belong to appointed staff.

For a local-history title, prepare accurate title, contributors, ISBN, format, date, price, page count, contents, accessibility facts, local relevance, and contact. It gives a selector information; it does not ask them to become marketing.

Ask what format access means

Print and digital lending are different. ALA notes shifting ebook licensing and accessible digital access. Before saying “available to libraries,” identify actual supplier, territory, format, and live record. A reader request is a signal, not a command.

Keep outreach useful

Maintain links to record, sample where appropriate, honest reviews, accessibility information, and contact. Contact libraries specifically and make declining easy. Recheck after a new format or edition; leave room for professional judgment.

Specific production checks

Look at the live record as a patron would: can they distinguish print from ebook, see the correct edition, and find an accurate description? For a regional poetry book, identify local relevance without implying a library’s collection mandate. A selector may still reasonably decide another purchase is more urgent.

If a librarian reports a metadata mismatch, correct the upstream brief first and thank them without requesting a review or event. Keep a log of corrected records, not a list of libraries expected to buy. This maintains the boundary between useful information and pressure.

Treat a declined purchase as a local collection decision, not evidence that the record should be distorted to force another route.