TOP 100 BOOK SITES
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| An Appraisal: Other Voyages in the Shadow of Lévi-Strauss In 1978 I made my first reporting trip to the Brazilian Amazon, with an orange-and-white Penguin paperback edition of “Tristes Tropiques” as the only book squeezed into my gear. feeds.nytimes.com |
Oxfam seeks peace with secondhand booksellers Charity has agreed to work with professional dealers in valuing rare stockOxfam has attempted to patch up its differences with secondhand booksellers after they accused the charity of driving them out of business in the Guardian this August.The Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association, which represents 600 secondhand booksellers, had said that Oxfam's voluntary staff, donated stock and business-rate reductions allowed it to undercut rivals, forcing some secondhand booksellers out of business and taking trade away from others. PBFA chair Peter Moore had also raised concerns about Oxfam's ability to correctly value rare books, and about the likelihood of voluntary workers overlooking valuable titles.Now a summit meeting at Oxfam's Oxford headquarters between the charity's trading director David McCullough and head of retail services Sarah Farquahar, and the PBFA's chairman Peter Moore and antiquarian bookseller Robert Kirkman, has attempted to smooth over their differences, with Oxfam agreeing to work with booksellers when it comes to valuing rare books.The charity admitted that not all of its staff have the expertise to value more expensive books, and agreed that when a collection of books is donated which is clearly of a higher value, the shop's staff would contact either the PBFA or the Antiquarian Booksellers Association and request that a bookseller come in to make an offer for the titles. That sum of money would then go to Oxfam."It cannot be expected that the plan will operate entirely smoothly and efficiently from the start but it has been entered into in good faith as a way of defusing the ill-feeling between the book trade and Oxfam which has been evident in recent months," said Moore and Kirkman in a report about the meeting. "It is accepted that Oxfam are chiefly interested in raising funds for their charitable activities. Members of the book trade, naturally enough, would prefer to see the better books entering the trade rather than going to a charity whose staff, on the whole, cannot have the knowledge to process the books to best effect. What quantity, or quality, of books will come into the trade as a result of this arrangement only time will tell, but we feel that we have made a promising start. To put it simply: Oxfam would prefer to receive £100 in cash rather than a carton of books. As booksellers we would be happy to pay £100 in order to acquire a carton of books."McCullough said the meeting had been "very constructive". "We were really being clear that we're not trying to compete with antiquarian booksellers and that we would love to find ways of working together ... I wouldn't like to say that all our shops don't have the expertise [to value books] – many do. But equally many don't," he said."Where they don't have the expertise it would be absolutely great for [a bookseller] to come in and look at the books. If [an ABA or PBFA member] came in and could help us establish a value, and offer a fair price to take them away, it would probably work for everyone. We would get a fair sum of money which would go straight into Oxfam's work, and they would be able to make sure the most unusual books found the right home, which we wouldn't be in a position to do."BooksellersAlison Floodguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Editors’ Choice Recently reviewed books of particular interest. feeds.nytimes.com |
Chapter and verse It's been another busy year in books, but were you paying proper attention? Find out with our fiendish quiz of 2009 feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Books of The Times: In the Soviet Union, When Food Was Scarce, Hope Could Still Be Nourished A slight but endearing memoir about the deprivations and joys of growing up in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and ’70s. feeds.nytimes.com |