KU Librarian Says-
'Socialized' Bookselling Is Scandinavian System
By Nancy Painter
Researching on book-trade organization and the system of book distribution in the Scandinavian countries was a recent undertaking of Thomas R. Buckman, director of libraries at KU. He did this research while on a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964-65.
Book-trade organization is the network of retail bookstores. In Sweden there are more than 300 "class A" bookstores. They are widely distributed among small and large communities from above the Arctic Circle to the tip of the country, Buckman said.
According to him, America has comparatively few such bookstores. He said in Sweden, bookselling is regarded as a profession and the standard of service is very high.
"My study abroad came at a very opportunity time," Buckman said. "The Swedish government was questioning the practice of maintained price for new books published in their country."
Consenting to the request by the managing director of the Swedish Booksellers' Association, Buckman commented briefly on the American system of book distribution at a public hearing before the Restrictive Practices Board.
In the present Swedish bookselling system, Buckman said, there are three forms of industry-wide regulation. Administered by the Swedish Publishers' Association, they are: the maintained price which must be upheld by all retailers; the obligation of all established booksellers to accept on commission at least one copy of newly-published works; and the licensing or accreditation of booksellers as a condition for delivery of books from the publishers.
Under this plan, only booksellers approved by the Publishers' Association may sell new books costing more than Sw. Kr. 15 (about $3).
There also exists, Buckman said, a code of business rules which sets forth the details of the publisher-bookstore relationship in regard to discounts, returns, sales, and reduced prices.
This system provides that all new Swedish literature such as novels and plays be made available all over the country as soon as possible.
"The main issue of the debate seemed to be on the cultural values of the present system versus its presumed economic disadvantages and high costs to the consumers." Buckman said.
Principal defendant in the case, Buckman added, was the Swedish Publishers' Association which based its case on the idea that the cultural values of the book-store system as operating in the country could not be upheld without the maintained price.
The association maintained that in a free market, publishers would be more inclined to issue popular and sellable books in preference to publication of culturally valuable literature.
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However, Buckman related, the Swedish Restrictive Practices Board (NFR) held that the act of price maintenance by publishers was contrary to the September 1953 legislation outlawing certain restraints on trade. Finally, price maintenance by retailers was included.
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The larger publishers and bookstores owned by publishing firms were indifferent to the situation. The Associated Students of the Swedish Universities and the Public Commissioner for the Freedom of Commerce supported the free market system.
"I feel that the university students were influential in the decision handed down," commented Buckman. "NFR pointed out that the trade could not find ways of providing university students with books at the lowest possible prices.
"It is my viewpoint that the decision was based chiefly on economic considerations," Buckman said. "Although the NFR did give consideration to the cultural aspects presented, it was felt that they were of minor importance monetarily and no harm could result from a free-market in books."
Swedish booksellers will have until 1970 to make necessary adjustments for operation under the adopted plan, he said.
"The conditions for a laboratory comparison of two systems of book distribution have not existed before in such favorable juxta-position in a single country." Buckman stated.
In addition to researching on the book-trade organization in Sweden, Buckman also translated five plays written by Par Lager-
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kvists, a 1951 Nobel Prize winner in literature. The translated plays are: The Difficult Hour, The Secret of Heaven, The King, The Hangman and The Philosopher's Stone.
Buckman's translations will be published in one volume by the University of Nebraska Press.
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