First of all, in a state institution, what is legally possible is governed
by state regulations on the disposition of library books and/or state
property. Insider trades with individuals will often not pass muster since
in many states access to deaccessioned property must be open to all comers
equally (eg, through auction, public booksale, or bid offerings). But your
state may be cooler about this than my state.
You didn't mention the circumstances, but I tend to be leery of any
deaccessioning initiated by outside parties ("I just happened to notice you
had an extra copy of x") , as opposed to the library. I am quite sure there
are exceptions, but the opportunities for ethical problems and just plain
bad deals arise.
Rich Oram
on 10/30/06 2:52 PM, Carol Fink at cfink2@MICHIGAN.GOV wrote:
> Greetings,
> I have a couple of questions about methods used for acquiring/disposing
> of rare books. Is trading an item in a special collection for one that
> is owned by an individual commonly done? What about selling second, etc.
> copies directly to an individual? We'd like to establish guidelines on
> how to handle titles for which we have multiple copies.
>
> Thanks in advance for sharing any methods your institution uses (or
> that you've heard about).
> Carol Fink
> Rare Book Librarian
> Library of Michigan
> cfink2@michigan.gov