Scanners Banned at Used Book Sale


May 07, 2007 | Filed in Opinion

The Friends group at the Alachua County Library District in Gainesville, FL, held a used book sale recently and earned close to $137,000 -- a record amount. One of the reasons for this, they think, may be the fact that they banned scanners and publicized the fact beforehand in the local newspaper.

Apparently, teams of so-called book dealers would come armed with these devices, scoop up loads of titles and carry them away from the tables to the checkout tent, where they would quickly scan their bar codes, check out their saleability online, and dump the rest where they stood. It took volunteers hours to resort the materials.

Alachua's decision to ban scanners didn't hurt sales. By acknowledging the problem it forced them to become more efficient (no reject piles allowed) and more equitable (more people had access to the materials). Book sales certainly benefit libraries but they're for the community too. Those with another financial agenda shouldn't be allowed to disrupt the process for their own gain.

I'm wondering if other libraries have faced this problem and how they've dealt with it?

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scanning book services

scanning book services... [...]Scanners Banned at Used Book Sale | LJ Insider[...]...

Posted : Nov 08, 2011 03:38

Rigoberto Laird

I genuinely like your innovative angle that you have on the subject. I wasnt planning on this at the time I begun searching for tips. Your ideas was totally simple to understand. Happy to find that there’s an person here that gets it exactly what its is talking about.

Posted : Nov 30, 2010 08:21

Ben R

I'm curious how you managed to police this policy. Did you confiscate scanners or eject people using scanners from the sale? Were there any downsides?

Posted : May 04, 2007 11:07

Voice-of-Reason

Sounds a bit heavy handed... why not simply disallow hoarding? Scan all you want, but do so right where the books are. Remove them only if you're ready to buy. I think Ithaca's book sale works that way.

Posted : May 05, 2007 10:32

Lynn Blumenstein

Ben R, Alachua's Friends President Joan Bearden wrote me that people who read the newspaper articles watched out for scanners or price-changers and alerted them, but didn't mention any significant altercations. She did mention that dealers were happy that they didn't have to compete with the "grab and run" types.

Posted : May 07, 2007 01:41

Anonymous

I have to agree with Voice-of-Reason. A good compromise would be to just ban hoarding of books. For most booksales, policing a 'no scanner' policy would seem near impossible and only reward those who subverted this rule. Don't let people hold books and put them back, but dealers should be free to use their gizmos at the tables if they like.

Posted : Aug 19, 2007 11:19

luv2harp

I completely agree that folks shouldn't be allowed to disrupt a sale (hoarding, etc. needs to be monitored). But I hope there is not an issue with booksellers in general. The comment regarding those with a financial agenda seems to indicate distaste or worse for those who are buying books to re-sell. I think the goal needs to be for the library to raise money and everyone to be able to come and have access to the books in a fair & orderly manner. I'm sure that the booksellers contribute significantly to the library revenues at these sales. Unreasonable limitations or exclusions will eventually hurt the library.

Posted : Oct 19, 2007 02:40

amy

i wanted to go to the gainesville sale and was upset to find it banned all electronic devices. i am a book seller with a scanner. i do not hoarde. i am always polite and i am always courteous to non-dealers and volunteers. hoarders tend to be all around awful individuals with no sense of decency and an elevated level of self importance. i have thought about paying some friends to come to sales and follow the hoarders and grab the books from in front of them like they do to others. maybe a taste of their own medicine might give them some perspective. until then, hoarders, like locusts, will descend on and devour a 200k booksale in 15 minutes. happy hunting!

Posted : Apr 28, 2008 12:09

Violet

I've heard of sales where the scanners are allowed, but the users are charged a fee of $10 for each one used. A sticker is put on it as proof of payment. Has anyone else used this idea?

Posted : Sep 04, 2008 11:43

Book Hoarder

What are they talking about????? Money is Money Right? the books people want are popular books like harry potter. All the popular books that they want are worthless to me. it the weird stuff....So what's the difference if i get 30 books and they get 30 books? What i think is that they are taking books out that are worth money and we would notice that there are only 10 dollar books at the most at these book sales. i think they will miss our money. when i put books online some are mistakes that i paid for. so i think they are getting greedy. Friends HAH gets any worse i will start to put up flyer around the library that offer cash for books. that might hurt the library's huh????????????????? they just couldn't be happy with what they got.....

Posted : Oct 23, 2008 06:58

Cash For Books

Anyone out there want to donate books? i will give you cash.... Buy friends

Posted : Oct 23, 2008 06:59

Jan Binder

I agree with disallowing hoarding, very rude individuals. I've experienced that at sales I've been to, I do scout books. I scan one at a time though. I am polite/considerate. I don't agree with disallowing scanners though. Just enforce the ban on hoarding, with a 1 strike you're out rule. Why punish all for the acts of a few "

Posted : Feb 22, 2009 10:28

Jan Binder

I agree with disallowing hoarding, very rude individuals. I've experienced that at sales I've been to, I do scout books. I scan one at a time though. I am polite/considerate. I don't agree with disallowing scanners though. Just enforce the ban on hoarding, with a 1 strike you're out rule. Why punish all for the acts of a few "

Posted : Feb 22, 2009 10:28

Ladont

We have 2 issues in St. Louis. I've seen 8 guys come in from Colorado and virtually clear tables while a second group scans everything in the back of the room. Books are simply left in piles. Another issue is a "home-schooling" mom who brings six kids all armed with scanners. The children seem to have been trained to weasel their way around or under adults until they get control of the table. I use a scanner. Ban them!

Posted : Jun 08, 2009 01:28

lmc

Those who resell books online are decimating the publishers and authors of the works themselves. Horrible, horrible practice. Keep books within your own communities! Share them with your friends! Do not put them into the hands of hoarders and profiteers.

Posted : Sep 29, 2009 08:31

mojo

lmc you are an idiot who has never heard of the right of first sale.

Posted : Oct 26, 2009 10:08

sentry

If they were the people scanning books were Islamic, or pornographers, then that would probably have been okay with the librarians, right?

Posted : Nov 13, 2009 04:26

sentry

If the people scanning books were Islamic, or it was for the benefit of an Islamic center, or say it was pornographers, then that would probably have been okay with the librarians, right? Librarians are going to go the way of newspapers.

Posted : Nov 13, 2009 04:30

Cathey

I think the behavior that bothers me more at a sale is the hording and not really the scanning. There was one dealer at a sale I attended that grabbed 100's of books and only purchased 20 or so. Some of the books he grabbed were ones that I probably would of purchased. I also think that with sites like booksalemanager.com and booksalefinder.com people are finding these treasure coves so much easier, which means more customers. Nice for the library, not so nice for those of us who knew of these secret money savers long before them being posted.

Posted : Jan 29, 2010 09:32

Seed Books

I sell a few books, but would way rather be at a book sale that did not allow scanners. I don't have one and do not want one. I am a book lover in the interest of philosophy, spirituality and religion. I sell what I would buy myself. It stays enjoyable that way. I wonder, "what does love have to do with it?". I love to see the books they buy which gives a sample of societal consciousness. It is all fun for me. Scanners are business people and this is AmErIcA, right?

Posted : Feb 26, 2010 07:34

dealer

I read with interest the comment about a person with a scanner who was polite. I never saw that before. I am a dealer. Scanners I have seen are rude and obnoxious and make people who appreciate books very sad. I applaud Gainesville and all others who bann scanners.

Posted : Feb 27, 2010 06:54

caravan70

I'd ban the scanners simply because they're obnoxious and detract from the browsing and buying experience. If the goal were simply to maximize revenue, there's no reason the library couldn't have a bunch of volunteers do the scanning and sell the higher-valued books online itself. Those interested in the books themselves, rather than their value, would still show up. (Indeed, most of the books I'm interested in as a collector are too old to have bar codes, anyway...).

Posted : Mar 03, 2010 12:39

bookish woman

Our annual library sale is coming up this week -I'm about to drop a note to our "Friends" group about this issue & will reference this thread. I HATE the scanner people! I don't think many of those we get here are actually book sellers themselves -listening to them in line I've heard them ask each other who they're working for & it's been one of the huge clearing house type sellers on half.com/amazon/abe in most cases. They are sent the scanners, come in with groups of people (sometimes kids too) and go through a sale like swarms of locusts. I have had them rudely reach in front of me and grab things; a friend actually had them push her out of the way last year & it's painful to anyone who actually enjoys books to see them literally THROW books into postal bins (which are federal property by the way -maybe I should just call the postal inspectors) and then sit on the sidelines going through them at their leisure while the community which supports the library and little kids who are looking for a book they'd like to buy get short shrift. Last year I was able to visit the sale again the next morning & found some books I know were not on the tables the night before -the rejects apparently. Does it hurt a library to discontinue this practice? I'm sure if they at least banned scanners the first night of the sale the parasites would still come the next day. As it is, it is definitely hurting our library to allow them -I'm thinking twice about donating decent items & cut down by half this year -hey, I can list books on eBay too & help my OWN bottom line. I'm happy to benefit my community but I am not in favor of enriching parasites who pretend to be saving books & the environment & whatever claptrap they think up as a marketing schtik. Most of the people with the scanners are not sellers, which is why they treat the books & other buyers like trash. Any decent seller knows a worthwhile book without an electronic crutch anyway.

Posted : Apr 11, 2010 11:38

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