A Stitch in Time - Paperback - Why so expensive?

[Therin of Andor]

There is also nothing wrong with doing what i said.

As a librarian, I say there's plenty wrong with that. It's stealing, even if you pay your fine for "losing it".

If you suspect a book is rarely borrowed (and the library's computer system is able to tell them the frequency of its circulation), make an offer to buy it. Libraries do sell off "slow" books.

A few years ago, when first edition Harry Potters were getting huge money on eBay, libraries were reporting them going missing. A library I knew put its own first edition hardcover onto eBay - and used the money to buy lots of later MMPB editions to quell demand. It should be the library's right to profit in this way, not some sneaky patron.

 

[Saturn0660]

There is also nothing wrong with doing what i said.

As a librarian, I say there's plenty wrong with that. It's stealing, even if you pay your fine for "losing it".

If you suspect a book is rarely borrowed (and the library's computer system is able to tell them the frequency of its circulation), make an offer to buy it. Libraries do sell off "slow" books.

Hey, i never said it was for me. I was just giving the guy a way to get it. Logic says that the book hardly ever gets checked out. If anything you'd be doing your local a favor by getting it out of the system.

Let me ask this.. You ever copied a CD from your local? If so is that stealing??

 

[Scout101]

Can list it for whatever you want, and if someone pays that, cool. Only one that actually SOLD on ebay went for $4, though. And while the 'new' condition book was $38, the very good condition one was again under $5, so ...?

If it was worth half of the $38, I'd take mine off the shelf and sell it, but disappointingly, doesn't seem to be selling for that price.

 

[bbailey861]

There is also nothing wrong with doing what i said.

As a librarian, I say there's plenty wrong with that. It's stealing, even if you pay your fine for "losing it".

If you suspect a book is rarely borrowed (and the library's computer system is able to tell them the frequency of its circulation), make an offer to buy it. Libraries do sell off "slow" books.

Hey, i never said it was for me. I was just giving the guy a way to get it. Logic says that the book hardly ever gets checked out. If anything you'd be doing your local a favor by getting it out of the system.

Let me ask this.. You ever copied a CD from your local? If so is that stealing??

Well, technically, yes it is (there are a bunch of entertainment lawyers that would love you to go and admit it to them) - although it is on a different scale since the physical item is being returned. You are mixing apples with oranges here.

 

[Therin of Andor]

You ever copied a CD from your local? If so is that stealing??

Before I did my Graduate Diploma studies in Applied Science (Information/Teacher-librarianship), where we did look at copyright law and how libraries need to set good models of behaviour, yes. In my teen years I sometimes copied audiotapes and LPs I'd bought onto blank tapes for friends and relatives ("mix tapes"), but I haven't done so since. Because... it's stealing and I now know better.

I've also written for $$$ and realised very quickly the potential for future earnings from royalties, which are the only way that some writers and musicians continue put bread on their tables.

Here in Australia, we also have a Public Lending Rights Fund, where authors are compensated annually for borrowings of their books in public and school libraries.

 

[JustKate]

So yeah, when you take a book from the library and keep it for yourself, you're stealing a book. I realize, judging from your earlier posts, that's not what you intend to do. But it's what you're doing, I'm sorry to say.

Oh, i've never done that.. And i know first hand as my local had a copy of 2010 go missing. They won't replace it. I of course can order it from another local but i went ahead and borrowed a buddies copy..

I'm not saying its right. But like everything in life.
Do what you gotta do..

Therin has put this more eloquently than me, and he has far more knowledge (as usual ), so I don't have a lot to add, except that...

Saturn, in this case you don't "gotta" do anything. It's a paperback novel, for God's sake. A person has gotta have his insulin, he's gotta have food, he's gotta have a coat when it's cold. But nobody has gotta own a copy of a Trek novel.

 

[Sci]

There is also nothing wrong with doing what i said.

As a librarian, I say there's plenty wrong with that. It's stealing, even if you pay your fine for "losing it".

If you suspect a book is rarely borrowed (and the library's computer system is able to tell them the frequency of its circulation), make an offer to buy it. Libraries do sell off "slow" books.

Hey, i never said it was for me. I was just giving the guy a way to get it. Logic says that the book hardly ever gets checked out. If anything you'd be doing your local a favor by getting it out of the system.

No, you're not, you're stealing from the library. If the library wants it out of their system, they would sell it or donate it.

Let me ask this.. You ever copied a CD from your local? If so is that stealing??

Yes, that is also stealing.

 

[Steve O'Core]

Hello there!

Back to the original question regarding why "A Stitch in Time" is so expensive--well, aside from people stealing it from their local libraries!

Yes, it is in high demand. The underlying question is, I guess, "Why do people want this book so badly?" What makes it so valuable to people? I'm not sure I can speak for everyone, but for myself, I was excited to read the book because Andrew J. Robinson wrote it. I read an interview where Robinson stated that, as the actor who portrayed Garak, he felt that there was part of the character that still needed to find some form of expression, and some part of his story that needed to be told before he (Robinson) could let him (Garak) go.

That sort of sentiment really struck me. It seemed that, truly, Garak himself needed to write this book.

Beyond that, the more obvious reason for me was that Garak was my favorite character from the series, so I had to read this book.