En Whatever

Harry Potter Twists Arms of Librarians

According to the Associated Press, Scholastic Inc., which is the U.S. publisher of the Harry Potter series, has issued "strict rules for libraries handling the book this summer":

Among them: Libraries must limit the number of employees who handle the books before the July 21 release and provide names and contact information for each branch manager, according to the contract from Scholastic Inc.

And then there's this

"We acknowledge and agree that any such violation will cause irreparable harm to Scholastic and the author, J.K. Rowling, and that monetary damages will be inadequate to compensate for violations," the contract states.

I find this disgusting. Once the library purchases the copy, it owns the copy. That means it should be able to do with it as it wishes. But marketing has taken an obvious stranglehold. If the company doesn't want the book to show up before the release date, then, by all means, express ship it the day before. Apparently a Scholastic spokesperson claimed that the effort was to preserve a "magical moment" for the kids. Horse manure. It's more like preserving a magical buzz moment for the salespeople. However, no need to boycott the system - because Scholastic has already seen lowered sales figures, and I'm sure that once the last blockbuster volume rolls out and the enormous sums that rolled in stop, heads in management will surely roll and libraries will go back to what they should be doing: encouraging reading and not ensuring the marketing plan of a corporation.

posted by Erik Sherman @ 7:53 AM