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Alibris for Libraries is the leading library supplier of used, new, and hard-to-find books, movies and music. Alibris has millions of out-of-print, older in-print, and otherwise unavailable titles in stock. We offer flexible payment options, consolidated shipping, and custom tools for managing replacement and collection development projects

Alibris connects people who love books, music and movies to thousands of independent sellers around the world. Our proprietary technology and advanced logistics allow us to offer over 50 million used, new and out-of-print books to consumers, libraries and retailers.

Alibris is an online retailer that allows independent book, movie, and music sellers to post their items and sell them to millions of customers worldwide. Alibris is not involved in the publication of any books; we cannot help you to contact any authors or to obtain rights or permissions

"Think how Alibris.com or Amazon.com
have radically changed the buying and selling of used books."
—The New York Times, 12.03.05

The Alibris Story

Richard Weatherford is a bookseller who loves old books and new technology. After earning his doctorate in English from UCLA and teaching college for some years, Dick turned to selling antiquarian books via specialized catalogs from his home near Seattle. He soon realized that computer databases had a lot to offer the antiquarian book business. In 1982, he wrote a business plan for a company that would build an online database for antiquarian booksellers. He called the company Interloc because it would serve as an interlocutor (that's English professor for "go-between") to help sellers to locate hard-to-find books. Unfortunately startup capital was harder to find than a signed JD Salinger, in part because personal computers were still scarce, expensive, and difficult to connect.

In 1991, Dick was hired by Faxon, a book and magazine subscription service firm, to salvage BookQuest, an early online database for antiquarian booksellers. BookQuest failed, but it taught Dick a lot and it revived the idea of Interloc. Because computer use was growing exponentially, the idea seemed timely and Dick was able to raise nearly $50,000, mainly from booksellers who respected his thinking and vision. Interloc went live in 1993, prior to the widespread use of the world-wide web.

The first successful online bookseller service
Initially, Interloc was a database for professional booksellers only. It was not open to the public. (Even as the web exploded in popularity, Dick decided against putting the Interloc database on the web, arguing that "our mission is to help booksellers find books for their own customers.") Dick recruited Tom Sawyer, who in 1993 published Record Manager, the first desktop software for booksellers. The data standard that Tom developed for Record Manager, called UIEE, is still in widespread use today. Interloc enabled sellers to transfer files of book listings over modems using DOS-based computers. Interloc built the first system to match requests, or "wants" from customers with books available for sale. It was a pioneering system, and the small company became the first successful online service for booksellers.

Interloc was quickly copied, right down to the UIEE data standard. Imitators wisely ignored Dick's advice to "stay off the web." Several launched websites before Interloc finally launched its own site in 1996.

A global vision from traveling the backroads
In 1997, Marty Manley asked an author friend how to find a copy of her book, which was out-of-print. Manley had what might politely be termed a nonstandard resume: among other things, he had been a machinist and a leader of several labor unions, a McKinsey & Co. management consultant, a sought-after turnaround expert, and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Bill Clinton. Over dinner, the author suggested that Marty use Interloc to track down a copy of her book. Marty found the book and was immediately hooked on Interloc's rich content. He sought out Richard Weatherford and was soon introduced to him in an office at the top of San Francisco's highest skyscraper.