What is the ALA Approval Plan?
ALA Approval Plan members automatically receive new titles, hot off the press, from preselected enrollment categories at a special 10% discount plus shipping and handling. They also receive an Approval Plan Bulletin twice a year that details the books they will receive during each season.
How do I sign up?
E-mail editionsmarketing@ala.org to request an Approval Plan application. Upon receipt of application, please complete and e-mail back to editionsmarketing@ala.org.
Current Approval Plan Bulletins
ALA Spring/Summer 2020 Approval Plan Bulletin
What Category Am I Enrolled In?
You can determine what category(ies) you are in by looking on the packing list that accompanies your shipment of Approval Plan titles. The letters you find there correspond to the following enrollment categories:
A: Books in all subjects intended for all libraries/librarians
C: Books intended for all public libraries/librarians
E: Books intended for high school libraries/librarians
G: Books that are intended for elementary school libraries/librarians
I: Books that are intended for academic libraries/librarians
S: ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries (published annually)*
SN: ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries, Non-MLS (published annually)*
L: Books in the “ACRL Publications in Librarianship” series
T: Select, outstanding books for all libraries promoting professional excellence
P: All ACRL (Association for College and Research Libraries) publications
PA: All publications in the ACRL “Trends and Statistics” series
PC: ACRL “Clip Notes”
UP: All PLA (Public Library Association) publications
TS: All ALCTS publications
X: Library technology-related books intended for all libraries/librarians
ALA Salary Survey is included with Plan A;
ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries, Non-MLS is not included with Plan A.
* To sign up for either the ALA Salary Survey (category S) or the ALA Salary Survey, Non-MLS (category SN), please email editionsmarketing@ala.org. Please ensure to indicate the new category that you wish to sign up for along with your full account information including contact name, email address, and standing order account number.
Important customer update on category KU and U:
Category KU (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules annual updates) and category U (PLA's "Public Library Data Service Statistical Report") have been discontinued.
AACR2 has evolved into a new cataloging standard, RDA: for Resource Description and Access, and consequently no updates to AACR2 are underway. For the latest news and information about RDA, please visit the RDA Toolkit page. PLA's "Public Library Data Service Statistical Report" is no longer being published in a print edition; please email pla@ala.org for additional information.
How can I tell which categories each new book is in?
There are 3 ways:
- Near the top of each book's product page on the ALA Store, look for the "AP categories" line.
- Look on the inner back page of the ALA Editions catalog each time a new one comes out, where you will see a list of the newly announced titles and their AP categories.
- Look on the Approval Plan Bulletin that is published twice a year (shortly after a new catalog is released).