Frequently Asked Questions

1) Do you have a catalog?
Librarians have often asked to be put on our mailing list to receive our catalog. Our “main attraction” has always been our Deep Discount titles. But they sell out so quickly, that as soon as a paper catalog has been printed and mailed, it is out of date. The website, on the other hand, can and will be edited as often as necessary, adding new titles and deleting those which have sold out. So now, our website is our catalog.

2) How can you offer such low prices? Are the deep discount titles remainders?
Some are. We buy remainders, reprints, out-of-prints, promotionals, imports, consignments, specialty books … wherever we can find an excellent value. We buy from scores of the world’s top publishers, and we buy by bidding on large lots.

Our goal is to be able to offer our customers half-off discounts and still make a profit. But first, each and every title must pass our qualitative review to be worthy of our customers who are the world’s most discriminating book buyers. Believe it or not, out of every thousand titles that we consider for acquisitions, only 8 to 12 make it to our website.

3) What else do you sell besides deep-discount titles?
We have a very nice collection of small press and frontlist titles. These are new books which are not discounted, and they don’t get a lot of publicity or reviews, but they are outstanding titles for libraries. We do not have them displayed on this website with pictures or descriptions, but they may be seen (mixed in with the deep-discount books, arranged alphabetically by title) on our complete inventory.

4) Have your books been reviewed?
Frankly, we don’t know how many of our selections have been reviewed by the traditional media. As you probably know, very few books (as a percentage of the total number published) are reviewed at all … positively or negatively. But you should know that all of our titles have been reviewed personally by our president.

Mr. Burg has a master’s degree in English and does all the book selection for West Circle Books. He has worked in and around libraries since he was a boy, and he has been in the library book business for over 25 years.

All of our long-time customers started with us because the price was so attractive; but they stay with us because they are so pleased with their books. And every book we sell is protected by our promise for your complete satisfaction.

5) How often do you add new titles?
New titles are added every week, from less than a dozen to fifty or more, and about the same number are deleted due to selling out, so the collection as a whole stays balanced. On a yearly basis, the inventory is always growing; every year we count many more titles overall than the previous year.

6) How does West Circle Books differ from the jobber we’ve always used?
We coined the term “demand” jobber almost 25 years ago; a demand jobber fills an order by acquiring the specific titles that you order, on demand. This is an essential service for every library to use, and the several large companies (that everyone knows) usually perform the task very well.
West Circle Books does not compete with the demand jobbers. Rather, we are a specialty jobber; our specialty is to anticipate the kinds of titles that libraries will want to purchase, and to sell them at deeply-discounted prices. As a result, we are considered to be a sole-source.

7) Do you have cataloging available?
Yes, but we do not do cataloging in-house; we have dependable and affordable outside vendors which process all of our customers’ requests for cataloging. If you are interested in partial to full shelf-ready processing, please click here for information about our cataloging.

8) How long will it take to receive our books?
It depends on what you order. All deep-discount titles are in-stock in our warehouse. So if your order consisted only of these, your order would ship right away. If we are awaiting a re-stock shipment, or if you have requested custom cataloging, of course it would take longer to receive your order.

9) Our budget is expiring and we have to spend money fast … can you help us?
We get this request all the time. Yes, we can react very quickly. Let us know your situation and we will suggest several possibilities. If necessary, we can even send you an invoice before we ship your books.

10) Can we pay by credit card?
Yes, we accept both VISA and MasterCard.

11) Can we get a print out of all the books you sell?
Yes, click here for the complete inventory.

12) How can we contact your office with questions?
Either call us at 815-485-0605 or use our Contact Us form.

13) Do you only sell to libraries?
Yes, only librarians purchasing for their library may order from West Circle Books, which sells to libraries exclusively. We do not sell to stores or to the general public; we do no retail sales. To order from this website, you must be the authorized selector and/or purchasing agent for an approved library.

These include school, public, military, academic, hospital, geriatric, and corrections libraries, among others. Virtually every library with a generalist collection would do well to include West Circle Books among their vendor sources.

14) How can we win a West Circle Books gift certificate?
We really want your comments and suggestions . . . for this new website, of course, but about our books and service and salespeople as well. Please fill out our Contact Us form. If you are the first to make a suggestion that we use, or, if you write a comment that we publish, you will win a West Circle Books gift certificate. Let us hear from you!

15) Do you have any employment opportunities?
From time to time, as West Circle Books continues to grow, we have sales territories open.
Click here for information on employment with West Circle Books.

16) Do you charge for shipping, handling, & insurance?
We do. However, unlike many companies, this is not a profit center for us; we just hope to defray some of the costs that we incur. To that end, we charge a flat fee of 7% (minimum $3.50) of the total invoice amount, regardless of weight or distance.

17) What is the return policy?
Every book sold by West Circle Books is completely guaranteed. If you need to return an item, simply send it to either:

West Circle Books
P.O. Box 815
Frankfort, IL 60423
… if you send it via U.S. Mail

West Circle Books
1933 Airway Court
New Lenox, IL 60451
… if you send it via UPS
or Fed Ex Ground

The only items which may not be returned are custom cataloging and books which have been processed. Please make sure that any item you return is identified by library name, address, phone number, and contact person’s name, and that you advise us to replace the item, issue a credit memo, or send a refund check.

18) What is your back order policy?
Unless you direct us otherwise, any book which cannot be shipped immediately will be backordered and shipped as soon as it becomes available, usually within two weeks.