🚀 go-pugleaf

27 January 1993

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am a graduate student at Dalhousie's School of Library and Information 
Studies who is currently preparing a presentation on the subject of small
presses. If you can at all spare the time, I would be deeply interested 
in your responses to the following queries. Please note that I am to
present on February 1.

1.	There seems to be no universally agreed-upon definition of what
constitutes a SMALL press. How would you define a small press?

2.	Do you use any of the small press distributors, such as Bookpeople,
Bookslinger, Inland, Kampmann, Quality Books and Small Press Distribution?
How would you gage the usefulness of such distributors in making small-
press purchases?

3.	Do you have any librarians assigned specifically to look after
purchases from small publishers? If so, how do such librarians ensure
that valuable small press publications do not slip through their 
fingers?

4.	Is the current recession affecting small book purchases in any
particular way?

5.	How useful are small press book fairs in making library 
purchasing decisions?

6.	I am looking for any professional magazines that have a
regular column devoted to small presses. Thus far, I have only found
Collection Building. Are you aware of any others?

7.	Do you use any small press publication guides, such as The
Small Press Book Review, Small Press Review, and Small Press, to make
your purchasing decisions? Do you ever consult the biennial journal
Alternative Library Literature? How would you rate the usefulness of
these guides in determining book purchases?

8.	Do you use any of the more mainstream publications, such as
Quill and Quire, the New York Times Book Review, and Books in Canada,
to find small press reviews and make appropriate purchases? Are any of
the reference texts, such as Canadian Book Review Annual, useful in
determining what purchasing decisions are to be made?

9.	Small press publishers sometimes claim that librarians pay
insufficient attention to their work. Is this claim valid? If so, why,
and if not, why not?

10.	[For librarians in the United States.] The LC Information
Bulletin wrote in 1986 (vol.45, p.384, November 24) about the
National Endowment for the Arts Program (NEA) for small presses. Is
that progam still in existence.

11.	[For librarians in Canada.] Does the Canada Council, at the
moment, play any role in bringing the work of the small presses to
the attention of libraries and librarians?

12.	[For librarians in Canada.] Are there any distributors in
Canada that concentrate on small press publications?

13.	Do you have any other observations on the relationship between
libraries and small presses that you think would be useful?

Please send your responses to my username, listed below; this prevents
clogging up this service.

Thank-you in advance for your consideration. It is very much appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Boyd Holmes
(Username: BPHOLMES@AC.DAL.CA)
Dalhousie University
School of Library and Information Studies
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada