I like Alison Bechdel. I want to read one of her books which the Carnegie Library does not own. So I requested it via interlibrary loan. This is what they told me:
Ms Kerr,
It's not that nobody owns the item. It's that nobody is willing to lend it to us. There are only four places worldwide that own the item. 3 of those locations are in Europe, DIE DEUTSCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK, UNIV FORSCHUNGSBIBLIOTHEK ERFURT GOTHA, and GOTTFRIED WIHELM LEIBNIZ BIBLIOTHEK . One location is a publisher. None of the owners of the material lend. We in the Interlibrary Loan Office are not involved in the purchase of new materials.
It seems kind of weird that only four places in the world own this book when other folks I know on GoodReads.com have read it. I'm not sure what to make of it. I gave them the name, author, and ISBN number so I doubt there's a mistake. Right?
The book? Postmoderne Lesbenheit published in 2003.
It just seems weird. They have all of her other books. I guess I'll ask them to buy it. Then we'll be the 5th place in the world to own it. I guess.
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I found your post and wanted to help — it looks like Postmoderne Lesbenheit is a German translation of “Post-Dykes to Watch Out For.” Yes, the German version is only held at four libraries — but the English version (published in 2000) is held at 118. CLP is NOT one of those libraries, but you might have better luck placing an ILL for that version. The ISBN is 1563411237.
Check out http://www.amazon.com/Post-Dykes-Watch-Out-Alison-Bechdel/dp/1563411237
You can buy used copies for like $6.00
For that price buy 2 and give one to the Carnegie Library!