Getting Your Books Into Libraries

If you live in the UK, and would like to get your book into libraries for readers to borrow, there are a few things you need to be aware of first.

The first is Public Lending Right. This is the system whereby authors receive payment in remuneration for the lending of their books in public libraries. It is not only authors that are paid, but illustrators, photographers, translators and editors too. Payments are made annually by the British Library, from a fixed pot of money provided by the government. The British Library takes out administrative costs from this pot too.

If you wish to apply to be part of the Public Lending Right fund, you must register the relevant editions of your works - books, audiobooks and e-books.

Libraries prefer to buy books through wholesalers, and so you will have a much better chance of success if you are registered with someone like Askew & Holts. But before you can do that, you first need to be registered with BDS, Nielsen Book Data and Gardners Books. More information about how to do this is listed on Askew & Holts website.

Once you have done that, you can register with the British Library here: https://plr.bl.uk/login

To calculate what you are owed, the British Library collects a sample of loans of your type of book over a year, from 1 July to 30 June. This is then multiplied, in proportion to total library lending, and from this, it can be estimated how many times your book has been loaned throughout the UK. The pence per loan is calculated based on the size of the government fund available and the number of books that have been lent. There is a maximum yearly payment cap of £6,600 per author.

Once all of your administration is complete, there are different approaches you can take to try to get your book accepted into the library. The Writers and Artists website has an informative article to help, which you can read here:

To make it as simple as possible for librarians to consider your book, it is recommended that you should have a one-page information document ready, along with a brief cover letter and a free copy of your book for consideration. The information you provide should include:

• Book Title and Subheadings

• ISBN

• Price

• Trim Size

• Publisher Name

• Wholesalers where your books are available

• Publisher contact information

• Publication date

• Genre

• Brief description of your work

• Details of the author

• How you already market your book

• Where your work fits with similar titles

• Any other relevant documents, such as press releases or reviews.

  
  

When you are ready, you can then approach your library in person. Some librarians may ask you to complete a ‘purchase suggestion form’, either by hand or online. This would be a good time to emphasise that you are a local author, especially if your book has local connections. You can offer to donate some copies, although, as stated above, libraries often prefer to get their stocks from wholesalers.

And just like you would for a bookshop, ensure you have a good quality, inoffensive, eye-catching cover and a clearly written spine for readers to see the title of your work.

Please share with us any experiences you have had with libraries, especially if your books are in one already.