Slate has a great article up, "Confessions of a Used Book Seller." In it, the author sheepishly confesses to being one of those book sellers who skim quickly through book sales, scanning every bar code with a specially-equipped PDA. As per the specifications he has set for his software, for each book his PDA gives him either a green "Buy" recommendation or a red "Pass" recommendation.

 

A lot of people despise the book scanners. (A fact of which the article's author is clearly aware.) The people who hate scanners are the people who love books far beyond their actual stated value. They are idealists who believe that books are sacred, and that even the humblest paperback genre novel should be treated with a religious awe. 

They are upset, I think, primarily by the openly commercial nature of the scanners. To these folks, it's crass and venal to treat books like any other commodity, to be bought and sold without a second thought (or a read).

 

Bless their hearts.

 

The obvious truth is that books are a business. People make money by selling them. After all, that is why the book-lovers happen to be there to witness the book-scanners: to buy books from someone who is selling books. Lucre may be filthy, I can't disagree, but people have to make a living. And in order to keep books moving through the world, money has to change hands. It's an ugly truth, but a truth nevertheless.

 

Ethically, it could be said that the book-scanners are harming other readers by cherry-picking the "good" books. But the book-scanners have an extremely narrow view of what constitutes a "good" book, and it's all about the book's resale value. Pick the book you most want to read, the one that's next on your list. I can guarantee you that a ratty old beat-up textbook from last year is worth more to a book-scanner. The book-scanner would pick that textbook, and leave behind the book you want to read.

 

And not to state the obvious, but the book-scanners are only causing theoretical problems for the people who will visit the sale after them. If you can't make it to that particular library sale, if you're working or you happen to be located halfway across the country, then the book-scanner is your greatest resource. 

 

The real question is why the book-scanners are able to take advantage of this arbitrage. Why don't the book sellers scan and sell the "good" books online themselves? Or hire book-scanners to do it, and take a percentage of the sales?