CCBC-Net Archives

Re: A Thought

From: Claudia Pearson <pearsoncrz_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:21:09 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
Katelyn wrote: "Particularly if we're talking about youth who don't have a lot of spare dollars, defining them by purchasing power alone seems dangerous. (And this might be somewhere that libraries as a publicly-funded service and publishing as an industry have very different perspectives!) I'd love to hear more about where these numbers come from and how non-purchasing readers are counted."

- Ah, but there is the rub! Publishers don't make money on the number of readers who read a book, they make money on the number copies they sell, and publishers are in the business to make money. As Jason pointed out, any potential solutions to the lack of diversity in what is published must translate into sales numbers, so "purchasing power" is an important aspect of a publisher's model.

As I understand it, the CBC and major distributors (like Amazon) collect these statistics using ISBN numbers, which are inventory identifiers for publishers and distributors even if alternatively used by libraries as index codes. I also understand that publishers are rather unwilling to distribute their methodologies and detailed analysis because of the sensitivity of topics like those being discussed here. For example, some might interpret the lack of purchases by one group or another as a result of publishers not publishing what that group wants to buy while others might suggest the data support the conclusion that members of that group don't read or don't value books as objects to be acquired, or argue that they don't have purchasing power in the marketplace. Data are always subject to interpretation, and it is the interpretation of data that drives acquisition, production and marketing decisions in all businesses, not just publishing.

Claudia Pearson

-----Original Message-----
From: Katelyn Browne
Sent: Feb 28, 2014 7:31 AM
To: Norma Jean Sawicki
Cc: Charles Bayless , CCBC-Net Network
Subject: Re: [ccbc-net] A Thought

I don't know much about how these statistics are calculated, but how are purchases by libraries figured? Certainly among the young adults at my school, a typical student purchases at most 1-2 books a year, but they read many more that are purchased by the school and by the public library.

Particularly if we're talking about youth who don't have a lot of spare dollars, defining them by purchasing power alone seems dangerous. (And this might be somewhere that libraries as a publicly-funded service and publishing as an industry have very different perspectives!) I'd love to hear more about where these numbers come from and how non-purchasing readers are counted.

--Katelyn.

Katelyn Browne
Middle/High School Librarian
Capital City Public Charter School
100 Peabody Street NW
Washington, DC 20011
(202) 387-0309 x1745



You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: pearsoncrz_at_earthlink.net.

To post to the list, send message to...

ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu

To receive messages in digest format, send a message to...

ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu

...and include only this command in the body of the message...

set ccbc-net digest

CCBC-Net Archives

The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...

http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp

To access the archives, go to...

http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net

...and enter the following when prompted...

username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts 

Claudia Pearson
coRA SCBWI Southern Breeze
Georgia - Alabama - Florida Panhandle
pearsoncrz_at_earthlink.net

Need a retreat? Check out the Hibbard Condos
www.mtn-resorts.com/P213
www.mtn-resorts.com/P214
www.mtn-resorts.com/P215
www.mtn-resorts.com/P216
Special off-season discount for SCBWI members - email me!

You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu.

To post to the list, send message to...

ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu

To receive messages in digest format, send a message to...

ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu

...and include only this command in the body of the message...

set ccbc-net digest

CCBC-Net Archives

The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at...

http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp

To access the archives, go to...

http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net

...and enter the following when prompted...

username: ccbc-net
password: Look4Posts
Received on Fri 28 Feb 2014 08:22:24 AM CST