View From the Publishing Trenches

Since I’ve discussed the ISBN and why you should care about what it is and how it should be used, I figured it’s time to consider another important number in the book business in the US.

LCCN – Library of Congress Control (or Card) Number

As the name implies, the LCCN is assigned by the US Library of Congress. It is actually a reference number to locate the bibliographic data, or catalog record, for a specific work in the Library of Congress. It is not, as some publishing newcomers tend to believe, a call number for finding a specific edition or format of a particular title. Therefore, you only need one LCCN to cover a hardback and paperback for the same title or to cover new editions of the same title.

The LCCN’s purpose is to help the LoC maintain its catalog records and to help other librarians acquire LoC cataloging data as an aid to creating their own catalog entries for new acquisitions.

The LCCN is included on the book’s copyright page, and all recently assigned LCCNs should be printed without at hyphens (the initial four digits for books entered into the LoC catalog since 2000 represent the year the LCCN was assigned).

You can acquire an LCCN only through the LoC’s:

• Cataloging-in-Publication (CIP) program, which is a complete bibliographic record created by the LoC for books not yet published and which is then printed on the book’s copyright page (CIP data includes the LCCN).
• Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program, which will result in a LoC-assigned LCCN if the publisher requests, and is approved for, it but will not include any bibliographic data.

So, which program should you use? You probably won’t have much choice if you are self-published or run a very small publishing company that primarily publishes your own books.

From the LoC’s CIP Program page:

Only U. S. publishers who publish titles that are most likely to be widely acquired by U.S. libraries are eligible to participate in the CIP program. Book vendors, distributors, printers, production houses and other intermediaries are ineligible. Publishers who have published the works of fewer than three different authors are ineligible. Self-publishers (i.e. authors and editors who pay for or subsidize publication of their own works; who often do not publish the works of more than three different authors; and whose works are rarely widely acquired by the nation’s libraries) are ineligible.

From the LoC’s PCN Program page:

Only U.S. book publishers are eligible to participate in the PCN program. These publishers must list a U.S. place of publication on the title page or copyright page of their books and maintain an editorial office in the U.S. capable of answering substantive bibliographic questions.

Getting that LCCN through the PCN program is a two-step process: first apply for a PCN account (might take up to two weeks) and then apply for a PCN (LCCN) for your book (they say this might take 1-2 weeks but we ususally get ours within a day or so).

Once you have an LCCN through the PCN program, you can always pay somebody to create the CIP data. This data cannot be labeled “Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication” on the book’s title page but, instead, must be clearly labeled “Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication.” Is it worth it? It might get your book cataloged on the shelf at libraries faster (especially in this era of shrinking budgets and reduced staffing at public libraries).

So, be sure to get your LCCN from the Library of Congress. It is, after all, free.