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A "furious row" has erupted over moves that could see Scottish school and library books supplied from England, reports the Sunday Post.
Until now schools and libraries have been able to buy books locally. But according to controversial tender documents that have been sent to potential suppliers by Scotland Excel, a body that works with councils to keep procurement costs down, the libraries will now operate within two new contracts, each worth up to £20m over two years. One is for books for public libraries, the other for school textbooks and school library books. Critics say only two suppliers in England are big enough to handle the multi-million-pound contracts. According to the Post this means libraries are "being forced to buy books from major suppliers instead of local businesses".
Small bookshops in Scotland say they’ll be devastated by the change. Smaller publishers warn they’ll lose a direct route into schools and claim there are few protections in either contract for the provision of Scottish cultural material. MSP Robin Harper, who was alerted by a librarian constituent, says it is "horrendous". He’s to put down a motion in the Scottish Parliament this week slamming the situation.
The counter argument that the two substantial contracts could drive down library procurement costs it not made within the piece, with Excel declining to comment.