2015 Charleston Library Conference

This paper explores how the valuation of books as cultural commodities has changed through examination of two historical periods of book pricing and publisher-library relations. The paper compares current e-book pricing debates, and recent shifts in attitudes about e-book pricing, with pricing debates and changes in the conceptualization of book prices from the “net book” pricing period of the early 1900s. The paper introduces readers to the story of the net price system book price control system employed in the 1900s. It describes tensions between stakeholders that led to the net price system, reactions to this new arrangement, and its impact on library book buying practices. The paper then describes similarities between the net price system conflict and current tensions in e-book pricing and purchasing practices. Finally, the paper uses the concept of cultural commodity to explain how, in both periods, changes in pricing led to changes in how libraries evaluate books for purchase and how librarians conceptualize what counts as a good price for a book. Librarians, publishers, and vendors are invited to contribute to the discussions of what makes a good book in terms of price.