Information Scotland

The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland

October 2004 Volume 2 (5)

President's perspective

It's not just the big names

Dundee libraries are working with the Scottish Publishers Association in a concerted promotion of their books. Moira Methven says more libraries should do the same.

Back in January I decided that one of these columns would be on the subject of Scottish publishing. My reason for this was because I had recently read the minute of a meeting between the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Publishers' Association outlining plans for a Scottish Bibliography for Libraries. It made interesting reading and provided plenty of food for thought. For example, since Cawdor Books closed, sales of Scottish published books to Scottish libraries have fallen by 25%. A disturbing statistic, and one that really ought to prompt public libraries to examine their purchasing policies. (See Information Scotland article on Scottish Bibliography for Libraries).

Brian Osborne's comments in the August issue of Information Scotland on how the Canadian Government has turned around the decline in that country's writing and publishing industry is particularly timely. Scottish publishers could perhaps learn from their Canadian counterparts.

We may live in a world of global communication where access to information is on an international scale, yet feelings of community, both local and national, are undiminished. Our literature plays a large part in our cultural identity. It helps define who we are. Writers such as Neill Gunn, Robert Louis Stevenson and Lewis Grassic Gibbon, as well as contemporary authors like Iain Banks, Andrew Greig, A.L. Kennedy and James Kelman, are truly international but have the added dimension of ‘speaking' to the Scots, be it in the rhythm of their prose, the dialect used, the location, or the issues raised. Successful authors like these are, in many cases, not with publishers based in Scotland, but it would be wrong to assume that the output of Scottish publishers is parochial or uninteresting.

Canongate, to take one, are publishers of Booker winner The Life of Pi. They also brought us J. MacDougall Hay's Gillespie – a Scottish classic if ever there was one. In 1980 they published Alasdair Gray's Lanark, a seminal work of Scottish fiction. Incidentally, if you bought a copy back then it would have cost you £7.95. A first edition now is worth about £300 – another good reason to support Scottish publishers. Smaller imprints like Luath Press list Matthew Fitt, and Argyle are publishers of Des Dillon. Several of the biggest names in Scottish fiction such as Rankin, Kelman, Kennedy and McIlvanney started with Scottish firms, so by not giving these publishers' lists due attention, we may well be missing out on young talent destined for greater things. Equally, by not buying new writers at an early stage we may be denying them the future success and recognition they deserve.

So what to do? On the one hand, public libraries are not paying enough attention to, or buying from Scottish publishers' lists, and on the other, the same publishers need to be more active in bringing their writers to our attention. This is more pressing for them now that at any previous time, as all major library suppliers are now based south of the border, and less likely to carry much of the output of Scottish publishers.

I mentioned the need for us to look at our purchasing policies. Purchasing Scottish published material could easily be built into them. But it's not just the publishers who need to promote their books more, libraries also need to. Those with responsibility for Reader Development have an important role. Experience has shown the impact face-out displays and strategically placed promotions can have on borrowing. More promotion of Scottish published titles would mean more borrowing and an increased interest in Scottish material. In an earlier column, I mentioned the fact that the major bookshops are active in promoting Scottish and local titles because they know there is a demand for them and therefore increased sales potential. For us, one benefit is higher issue figures.

Currently in Dundee we are working in partnership with the Scottish Publishers Association in a concerted promotion of their books. We had a very successful launch of ‘The Best of Scottish Publishing' in September. This collection of fiction and non-fiction is displayed at the entrance to the adult lending area where it can't be missed. We intend to monitor the issues from this collection and the results will inform how we house and display our Scottish material in the future.

New books from big name Scottish authors are eagerly awaited. While you and your borrowers wait for them, have a look at, and promote, some other Scottish titles. There's lots to enjoy. Try Anne Donovan's Buddha Da from Canongate, or Lin Anderson's Driftnet from Luath. Two very different books but equally enjoyable. One is comic and with a touch of romance (affair would be a more accurate word), the other dark and brooding.

And speaking of romance and novels, here's a novel idea about romance. I've been passed a letter from a North American colleague who is writing a book on romances which blossomed in libraries. If you have a story to tell and are happy to see it in print get in touch with Madeleine Lefebvre who is Librarian at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Canada at madeleine.lefebvre@smu.ca; www.smu.ca/administration/library/.

Information Scotland Vol. 2 (5) October 2004

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Last updated: 8 November 2004