The Spanish Language Book Challenge
How librarians and distributors can work together to better serve Spanish- language readers
By Karin Kiser -- Críticas, 4/1/2001
Those who have grappled with collecting Spanish-language materials know how complicated it can be to find what their partons need. And now that patron pool is rapidly growing. Today, the United States is home to more than 31 million Hispanics from over 21 countries, making it the fifth largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. By the end of this decade, only Mexico will have more Spanish-speakers. People from Spain, Mexico, Latin America, and the Caribbean have influenced the United States for generations. Why, then, is it so difficult to get Spanish-language books into the United States? If you've ever tried ordering them for your library, you know it can be time-consuming and cumbersome. Most likely you can't find the books you need through your traditional jobbers, you don't have the bilingual staff to effectively communicate with international publishers, and you aren't familiar with ordering processes in other countries. If you have managed to order the books you want, you probably have a story or two to tell. Perhaps the books never arrived, or they arrived six months late. Perhaps the binding was substandard, or the books lacked proper cataloging data. Why is finding the right Spanish-language books and placing orders such a trying process?
Distribution
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Not so with books in Spanish. International publishers do not mail catalogs to U.S. libraries, due to the high cost of printing and international postage. Reviews of Spanish-language books that are written in English are scarce, which means that librarians receive limited information about new and noteworthy titles. To make matters worse, there are no large jobbers that carry hundreds of thousands of Spanish-language titles. Currently, both Ingram and Baker & Taylor stock around 5,000 titles in Spanish, as compared to their 250,000 or more titles in English. The bulk of Spanish-language book distribution in the United States, then, is left to roughly 200 smaller distributors who service market niches. Some carry only books from Spain; others stock fiction or literature titles; some specialize in sales to universities; and others focus on books from Central America. Some distributors print semiannual catalogs while others have only title lists. A few distributors operate with 'just-in-time inventory,' meaning they only place orders with international publishers after receiving a purchase order from a library or retailer. Other distributors prefer to stock only their projected 'bestsellers' and rely on special orders for the rest.
English-language jobbers primarily warehouse books and fulfill orders. They stock available U.S. titles and provide key accounts with volume. In contrast, the primary role of Spanish-language book distributors is to select and import material. They review hundreds of thousands of Spanish-language books and carefully select those that have enough sales potential to warrant investing up-front capital to stock them. Librarians can use this expertise to their advantage. Part of the job of Spanish-language book distributors is to manage the administrative and logistical challenges involved in importing books, but they may also provide valuable collection development assistance and personalized service not possible through a traditional jobber.
Most Spanish-language book distributors are relatively small, stocking 3,000 to 10,000 titles. They keep smaller inventories because of the slew of obstacles inherent in importing Spanish-language books. These obstacles include nonreturnable stock, international shipping costs, and frequent backorders from international publishers.
Without a return option, stocking hundreds of thousands of Spanish-language titles becomes a recipe for bankruptcy. In the United States, jobbers, wholesalers, and retail outlets can return books to the publisher up to six months or more from the date of purchase. When buying books from abroad, however, all sales are final. Distributors do not have the option of returning the books they can't sell and, therefore, are much more selective when deciding what to stock.
Particularly for distributors specializing in sales to libraries, the business is like a book bank. In fact, distributors pay for books roughly six to eight months before they begin to cover their investment. Why is this necessary? First of all, the distributor must often pay in advance for international titles. Secondly, the books can take months to arrive to the distributor, which must also pay international shipping costs. Should a library request books that require a special order from an international publisher, the books can take up to six to eight weeks to arrive. Thirdly, once the order is finally sent to the library, the library takes 90 days or more to pay. Given this lengthy process, it's no surprise that there are few U.S.-based Spanish-language book distributors stocking more than 10,000 titles.
Distributors of Spanish-language books typically service more than one sales channel or type of customer, which in turn limits the depth of title offerings. A distributor that specializes in library sales, for example, might also sell to bookstores, schools, and discount stores like Wal-Mart and Target. This means that most distributors will have a similar core collection of fiction, literature, self-help, and children's titles to present to a diverse clientele.
Another factor that contributes to the distribution dilemma is the size of print runs in Mexico, Argentina, and other Spanish-speaking countries. Unlike U.S. publishers, which can print 25,000 copies at a time, publishers in Mexico print only 1,000 to 2,000 copies for their markets. Many of these publishers don't automatically reprint when stock runs low, making lengthy backorders common.
Availability is the greatest challenge in ordering Spanish books, according to Margarita Ortiz of the Detroit Public Library. 'When we look for books, they are often out of stock or about to be reprinted. The publisher releases a small amount of copies and then reprints as demand comes from the vendors or distributors. By the time the orders get processed by our ordering department, the book that was available when the order was initiated becomes an out-of-stock/out-of-print book.'
Rita Torres of the San Jose Public Library agrees. 'Too few copies of a given title are available to purchase,' she says. 'Vendors list a title, but the inventory runs out, and orders must frequently be canceled.' Frequent and lengthy backorders are a reality of ordering Spanish-language books.
Double your distributors
Given these ordering obstacles, the key to acquiring Spanish-language books is to work with as many distributors as possible. It pays to shop around for books in Spanish. Selection, turnaround time, and price can vary significantly from one U.S. vendor to another.
Distributor prices can vary for a number of reasons. First, the discounts they receive from international publishers are often based on volume. As such, if a distributor carries more titles from any given publisher, that distributor is able to offer competitive prices for those titles. Secondly, the shipping methods used by distributors can also influence the final price. Some distributors consolidate orders from a variety of publishers in Spain before having them shipped, while others receive shipments from each international publisher. Distributors receive books by air, by sea, and by overnight carriers such as UPS and Fed-Ex--which affects the final price.
'We work with several distributors from within the United States, including Downtown Book Center, Astran, Lectorum, Hispanic Book Distributor, and Bernard Hamel Books,' notes Rafael González of Los Angeles County's Baldwin Park branch. 'But we also work with publishers and distributors from Mexico and Spain. The size of our library, the diversity of our Spanish-speaking community, and the limited stock and high prices require that we seek the best titles at the best prices available, and that often means ordering from abroad.'
Traditionally, public libraries have faced restrictive ordering policies that either limit them to a couple of vendors or obligate them to just one as a result of their bidding systems. This practice of restricting the number of library vendors dramatically reduces the selection possibilities. 'Distributor catalogs are by definition incomplete,' notes Michael Shapiro of Olympia, Wash., distributor Libros Sin Fronteras. 'They represent those materials that have passed by a given distributor's eyes, and miss out on those that have not.' Librarians can get around the obligation to a single vendor either by lobbying their central offices for more flexible vendor policies or by demanding more Spanish-language titles from their designated vendor.
Attending the annual Guadalajara International Book Fair is also a must. The fair, known in Mexico as 'FIL,' is a nine-day event offering librarians and other industry professionals an opportunity to view books from nearly 1,000 publishers. While larger library systems such as Houston and Los Angeles County send librarians to the fair as a matter of course, the fair is affordable for large and small libraries alike. As part of its 'Free Pass Program,' the American Library Association subsidizes airfare and hotel accommodations in Guadalajara for roughly 200 librarians. To apply to the program, interested librarians must be active, individual members of the ALA. Contact the FIL Web site at www.fil.com.mx for more information.
Although neither Baker & Taylor nor Ingram specializes in Spanish-language books, both have taken steps to offer a larger variety of titles. Executives from Baker & Taylor, for example, attended FIL last November to begin the process of opening up business relationships with international publishers. 'We see Spanish-language titles as key to both our retail and library customers,' affirms Jean Srnecz, B&T's v-p of merchandising. 'We are working with a number of U.S.-based partners to jumpstart our efforts to increase title coverage through their relationships.' Both Ingram and Baker & Taylor now offer catalogs of Spanish-language books, as well as select titles from international publishers.
Many Spanish-language distributors are now offering libraries bibliographic services typically thought possible only through the larger jobbers, thereby eliminating the need to sacrifice selection for convenience and add-on services. Librarians can take advantage of the processing, cataloging, binding, and other services that Spanish-language book distributors provide.
Downtown Book Center in Miami, for example, is EDI-capable and offers libraries MARC records at no additional charge. San Francisco's Books on Wings offers a rebinding service, and Libros Sin Fronteras provides library reinforcement for paperback materials. Most distributors offer a specialized service that can be catered to the needs of each library system. (Access a partial list of distributors.)
Librarians interested in developing their Spanish-language collections would also do well to participate in distributor approval plans. If your library is lacking current biographies, adult fiction, or books for young adults, you can specify this in your profile. Distributors will send you the requested subject areas on a monthly, quarterly, or semiannual basis. Some plans allow librarians to approve titles prior to shipping, while others allow for a 30-day examination period. Approval plans can be custom-tailored to suit each library's budget and patron profile. Distributors are eager to work closely with librarians to develop or broaden their Spanish-language collections. They make regular visits to librarians and encourage them to visit their offices to examine books in person.
Listen to librarians
It's not enough for librarians to understand the distribution dilemma surrounding Spanish-language books. In turn, distributors would do well to listen to what their library customers are saying about what they need.
Librarians most frequently cite unpredictable availability as a frustration when buying Spanish-language titles. To help librarians determine how long they may have to wait for a given title, distributors should create catalogs or title lists only of those materials they have warehoused in the United States, as opposed to those they can get from international publishers. 'It would be nice if more distributors would follow Amazon.com's lead and let customers know an approximate time-lag between their receipt of the customer's orders and ship-date of materials,' affirms Teresa Pacheco of the Hall County Library in Gainesville, Ga.
Complete title information is another area of concern. Due to the scarcity of reviews of Spanish-language titles and the lack of U.S. advertising by foreign publishers, librarians must rely on publishers and distributors to fill in this information gap. International publishers aren't always equipped to meet librarians' needs. Publishers in Mexico, for example, focus their sales efforts on local schools and bookstores, not libraries, since in Mexico libraries are few and underfunded. As such, international publisher and distributor catalogs are often incomplete. Librarians need complete bibliographic information such as the number of pages, binding quality, binding type, publication date, date of availability, country of origin, content description, English translation of the title, ISBN, publisher, trim size, number and quality of illustrations, and price.
Beyond these basics, librarians have lots of ideas of how to make the process easier. 'Distributors should provide card kits in English, or at least assign a Dewey classification,' notes Joe Weaver of the Moore County Libraries in Dumas, Tex. 'I can generally tell where a book should go, but sometimes it's tough.'
'The majority of the catalogs I see for Spanish-language books are arranged alpha-by-English-translation-of-title, which is hugely frustrating if I am trying to find specific titles,' adds Laura Wangerin, collection manager for Brown County Library in Green Bay, Wis. 'Arranging alpha-by-title, with the English translation underneath in parentheses, would greatly facilitate ordering.'
Also, providing clear information about copyright date can be quite useful for the long run, as it will help librarians order current or backlist titles with confidence and without the risk of disappointment. As Fresno County Public Library's Anthony Halstead notes, 'often publishing dates aren't included either in online formats or printed catalogs... and this sometimes appears to be intentional as older materials are frequently sold under the guise of 'new releases.''
Online ordering
Librarians are increasingly using the Internet to review materials and place orders. Few Spanish-language book distributors, however, are using the Internet to reach librarians. Those that do rarely have the all-important shopping cart feature. S.B.D. Spanish Book Distributor (sbdbooks.com), Libros Sin Fronteras (www.librossinfronteras.com), and Latin American Book Source (Latambooks.com) are three distributors that offer a wide selection of Spanish-language titles, as well as online shopping capability. Libraries can also subscribe online with S.B.D. to receive automatic new title updates.
Librarians suggest that distributors post their entire inventory online with the same bibliographic information that is needed in their catalogs. The ability to save an order online is also helpful. 'Often it is difficult for librarians to order all the books at one time,' notes Madeline Gaudioso of the Pomona Public Library. 'I would like to be able to establish an online account with Spanish book vendors, select books, and then save the order. This would allow us to add to the order as we need to and then ship all at once.' Most U.S. distributors are not supplying this service, but rather, limiting their Web sites to online versions of their print catalogs.
Communication is key
Both distributors and librarians alike would benefit from better and more frequent communication.
Such communication flows both ways. For instance, librarians need frequent updates of new releases, current catalogs, detailed bibliographic information, and reviews. 'Knowing what libraries with established Spanish-language collections have purchased would also be helpful,' says Bloomington Library's Jane Chamberlain at Bloomington Library in Illinois.
On the flip side, distributors would like a better understanding of libraries' needs, as well as flexible delivery times and prompt payment.
Often librarians hesitate to give out their e-mail addresses and fax numbers. Since librarians are often overworked and understaffed, perhaps they hope to reduce the amount of extraneous mail they receive. Yet this reluctance to provide publishers and distributors with fax numbers and e-mail addresses eliminates the quickest way for distributors to provide new title updates. Many distributors omit publisher data and copyright information from their print or online catalogs, perhaps out of fear that the library will bypass them and order directly from the publisher. However, such reluctance to share information is unnecessary and harmful to the industry as a whole. So, if you prefer to receive new title information via traditional mail, communicate this to your distributors. If you require publisher and copyright information before ordering a book, request this from potential vendors and order only from those that provide it.
In order for librarians and distributors to better serve their Spanish-language readers, they must first understand the idiosyncrasies inherent in Spanish-language book distribution and then foster greater communication to deal with them.
Kiser is executive director of Kiser & Associates, a San Diego-based consulting firm specializing in marketing services for the Spanish-language book industry in the United States. She can be reached at kiserassoc@aol.com.
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