LCCN, June 25, 2013
ISSN 2324-6464 Collecting Library Materials in Challenging Locations: the Role of Book Fairs Melanie Polutta Based on an interview with William Kopycki, field director, and Ahmed Moustafa, head of the Serials, Binding, and Shipping Unit of the Library of Congress Cairo Overseas Office. I had always thought that attending book fairs, especially for the Library, would be fun. But listening to the description of visiting a book fair in Algeria as described by Ahmed and William of the Cairo Office, I realized that fun can be exhausting, too. Yet visiting this book fair is absolutely vital, because it means that the vendors get to know who you are and that you can be trusted to pay if you want to make purchases from them. So the investment in time and energy is necessary. But a book fair involves a long list of duties and difficulties that are challenging to accomplish all at once. Let's start with... * Upon arrival, you first make sure that you know who is there. There is no such thing as a Yankee Book Peddler or the like to really obtain a representative sampling of materials for you. So you must visit all vendors. * What is at each vendor's booth is a limited display of what may be back at their store, so you do your best with what is there, but also express interest in other things that they may have, so. * The next day you make the rounds again, being sure to look up the same vendors, because you hope they brought you more of what you told them you wanted. * As you look over what they have, you have to check it against a printout or a frozen version of the LC database that you managed to bring with you. * You are also juggling multiple lists because you are buying multiple copies for participants in the Middle East Cooperative Acquisitions Program (MECAP). (http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/cairo/cairo-coop.html). This sometimes means that you ask the vendor to please bring more copies of the same book back the next day. * As every acquisitions librarian knows, you check each book for printing errors or other flaws before you actually accept that copy. Admittedly, doing this in the middle of a book fair makes it a bit difficult to focus. Plus, this does sometimes mean asking the vendor to bring more of the same book the next day, since some of the copies have errors. * Decisions must be made on the spot since waiting to obtain items of interest is not a good idea. Print runs are frequently small and very much limited to the country, so you decide to get it now or you don't get it at all. * You have to work with the vendor to acquire all the back issues of the serials, which are not at the book fair, but rather back at his store, so. * This means visiting the vendor's store in the evening to obtain the complete run of the serial. The evening is not for relaxing! There is still work to be done. * You have to show the vendors what needs to be included in an invoice that our administrators will accept, because LC accounting procedures mandate certain data elements on every invoice, no matter where it is generated. (Oh, the joys of paperwork!) * Sometimes you have to transport the books yourself. Loading up the car or truck can be a big job, especially when you consider how many different institutions you are buying for in the MECAP program. * You must ship the new purchases back to Cairo. * Shipping can be much more of a self-service operation overseas, so you come ready with the packing tape and markers, because it isn't always easy to have enough on hand. Oh, and sometimes you bring the boxes as well. * The books have to get through customs - twice! First the books travel from the location of the book fair to Cairo, in order to be properly processed and cataloged, and then from Cairo to the U.S. This is something every foreign acquisitions librarian has to deal with; they are always concerned about customs and shipping. * At the fair itself, you have to endure a large crowd, which sometimes includes a whole bunch of school kids. It is great to see kids enjoying the book fair, but it does add to the complexity of transacting business at times. * You have to endure a really hot place and much restaurant food. * You do this for a solid week. Truly, it sounds exhausting. But it is important work, and in FY2012, the Cairo Office purchased 56,433 pieces for the Library's collections and 62,768 items for MECAP participants. This is in addition to acquisitions via gift and exchange. One day soon, I hope that we will have one of the actual Cairo Office employees tell us about this kind of experience from their own point of view. _____ Melanie Polutta Library of Congress LCCN Editor
