Online shopping can benefit Fayetteville Public Library

Supporting the Fayetteville Public Library is as easy as shopping online.

MyLibraryBookstore is a new service that allows patrons to shop for books, movies and music online, with a portion of the sale going to the library.

“ It adds another convenience to customers using our Web site and catalog, ” said Louise Schaper, library executive director.

Schaper said that all proceeds from the sales will be spent on increasing the library’s collection. The service was recently made available by the library’s primary supplier, which is also a major supplier to Amazon. com, she said.

The library had a previous service through Amazon, Schaper said, but when this came about it seemed like a better fit.

“ We were able to customize it in a way we were comfortable with, ” she said.

The service is through Baker & Taylor, which is the library’s primary supplier of books and audio and visual material. The company was founded in 1828 as a bindery and subscription book publisher, according to its Web site, www. btol. com.

The company discontinued publishing in 1912 to focus on distribution. It now claims to be the “ world’s largest distributor of books, DVD, music and videogame products to libraries, retailers and other resellers, ” according to its Web site.

Schaper said the service is compatible with the software used by the library, allowing the service to be integrated with the library’s catalog. It will allow people, when they search for a book and find it checked out, to buy it if they don’t want to wait, she said.

The service can be accessed through the library’s Web site, www. faylib. org. A link is among the alternating banners on the home page, and a link to the service can be found under the pull-down menu, Support FPL. The service operates similar to other online shopping sites, and residents don’t have to log in through their library account.

Entering the site through the library’s Web page will ensure that the Fayetteville Public Library receives proceeds from sales.