Library Bargain Hunter Service

Public libraries in central Texas now have a new service to use to get the best discounts possible on materials, equipment, and all sorts of commodities needed to serve your communities.  The Library Bargain Hunter Service is brought to you by CTLS, Inc.  The purpose of this service is to help libraries navigate the complex and confusing world of discounts and deals already in place and available to local, state, and federal governments.  The goal of the Library Bargain Hunter is to help each member library pay the lowest price possible for whatever you need to run your library.

This year signals significant changes to the ten Texas library systems. For 30 years, system member libraries ordered books and other library materials with system collection development grant funds.  The library systems and their major resource center libraries negotiated discounts with library vendors and handled the financial end of purchasing of books and media for member libraries.

In FY 2008, the Texas State Library eliminated these programs from the systems, choosing instead to shift collection development funds into the Loan Star Libraries program.  This shift eliminated the discounts that member libraries were eligible to use as part of a larger contract.  Many public libraries found they must now negotiate their own discounts or join with other libraries to secure the discounts formerly provided through their local system office. 

To insure the best discounts available to our members, the Central Texas Library System has made agreements with three other library systems to use the materials contracts of those entities.  Our system partners are: the Alamo Area Library System (AALS) in San Antonio, the North Texas Regional Library System in Fort Worth, and the Northeast Texas Library System (NETLS) in Garland.  Each system offers a slightly different mix of vendors and discounts, all of which are outlined in the following pages.

Additionally, the Texas Building and Procurement Commission and Comptroller of Public Accounts staff, working with the Texas State Library, have set up contracts with materials vendors that are comparable to the ones the systems have available to public libraries.

Each of these contracts offers a number of advantages and disadvantages to public libraries.  CTLS members are urged to choose the discounts which best meet the needs of the library’s clientele and individual circumstances.  Check the appendix at the end of this manual for comparison charts of discounts and processing charges.

Please call Laurie Mahaffey or Katelyn Patterson at the CTLS office if you have questions about purchasing in this new way: 1-800-262-4431, ext. 18 (Laurie) or 13 (Katelyn). E-mail them at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More Info:

 Bargain Hunter Packet 2008
 State and Regional Discount Comparisons 
 Folkmanis Puppets Order Form
 State Purchasing Cooperative Members

Note: Unfortunately , the NETLS Media Collection has been discontinued and will not take any new contracts or users.