NOTE:  The following opinions are strictly personal, and not those of
the library I work in.  And, I'm not a lawyer.

I'd put them on the shelf like any other issues. Since I'm assuming
that for many of us we have ordered things from Faxon, but also from
others, you'd have to check each title as it was checked in to see
from whom it was ordered, and whether it was one that was renewed
early and Faxon actually did pay.  That sounds like a ton of work to
me.  Also, by not putting them out for patrons you're doing them a
disservice.

As to whether the merchandise is unordered, I can see both sides of
that. You DID order them.  You just didn't pay for them yet. Of course
you could have teams of lawyers arguing whether the responsibility to
pay for them was that of Faxon or of your library.  I'd come down on
the side of it being Faxon's responsibility, and that if they keep
sending them without being paid, that's their problem.

One thing I'm essentially positive of is that NO publisher is going to
want the issues back.  Suppose that you personally order Knitting
Weekly on a "four free issues and then I'll pay for it if I like it"
deal.  You don't pay, but don't cancel.  You'll end up with many more
than 4 issues before they quit sending you bills and write you off as
a lost cause.  Do they want them back?  Of course not.  I don't see
this as being much different.

Anyway, I'd strongly argue with any supervisor that our job is to
serve our patrons and not to worry about anyone wanting something
back.

cheers

dan

Friday, January 3, 2003, 8:48:38 AM, you wrote:

SJ> What are you doing with Jan. 2003 issues that are coming
SJ> in for which renewals have not been paid?

SJ> I've been told to stack them "in case publishers ask for
SJ> them back."  My understanding is that unordered merchandise
SJ> is mine, and I can do with it as I wish.

--
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan@RiverOfData.com 208-283-7711
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.gailndan.com  Stop Global Whining!