Local company to print, sell scans of out-of-print books

BookSurge, a local unit of Amazon.com Inc., announced a deal Thursday to scan, publish and sell some of the world's rarest out-of-print books.

The North Charleston-based firm has built its business by selling print-on- demand books for aspiring authors making an end-run around traditional publishing houses.

Under the new program, BookSurge will reproduce and sell some of the most valuable tomes held at a number of universities and libraries. It is teaming up on the venture with Kirtas Technologies, a New York-based company that specializes in digitizing — or scanning — books and documents.

The Cincinnati Public Library is now selling four rare volumes through BookSurge, according to director of technical services, Jason Buydos. The list includes a slang dictionary published in 1880 and a 1904 book on how to be an entertaining dinner guest. Cincinnati's is the only library in the world that holds a copy of that volume.

"You're essentially able to buy a rare book without paying rare book prices," Buydos said.

The Cincinnati Public Library is selecting rare books with an element of "kitsch" appeal, rather than works that are still in print. Its first-edition volumes by Mark Twain, for instance, will stay on the shelves for now.

Participating libraries and universities will collect a small percentage of book sales, proceeds that will help offset the cost of scanning their collections.

Emory University spent about $200,000 on "digitizing" equipment and is now scanning about 50 rare books a day, according to Martin Halbert, director for digital programs at the school's library.

Google launched a similar effort to dump library collections into its online vault. Earlier this month, Google's "Library Project" signed an agreement with the University of Chicago and all of the Big 10 universities to digitize 10 million volumes from their collections.

BookSurge was formed about seven years ago "by a small group of writers dedicated to creating better opportunities for authors to get published and build profitable businesses through selling their books," according to its Web site.

Reach Kyle Stock at 937-5763 or kstock@postandcourier.com.