The Buckram Syndrome: Alive and Well, Alas

Nearly two decades ago, an entire issue of The Public Library Reporter was devoted to the results of a survey of public libraries' attitudes toward the purchase and use of paperback books. The report, entitled The Buckram Syndrome: A Critical Essay on Paperbacks in Public Libraries of the United States, concluded that those libraries were, by and large, nearly terminal victims of the “buckram syndrome” or, to put it less facetiously, were absolutely hooked on hardcovers, and even worse, were likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.