And from the looks of things, this may get rather nasty, especially since the word "collusion" is being bandied about. The offended party is the Norwich-based wholesaler Bertram Group, which has gone to the Office of Fair Trading to investigate six publishers for "anti-competitive practices."

The gist of the row? Bertram decided that it might not be a bad idea to extend the discounts it gives bookshops to libraries. And if this is to go ahead, the Bookseller reports, it neatly sidesteps publishers' stranglehold on advantageous library supply terms, which offer libraries lower discounts (typically 37%-47%) than retail customers (44%-55%)."

So naturally, said publishers are a might angered about the whole idea and threatened sanctions to stop the company transferring wholesale discounts into the public library sector. Thus Bertram's complaint, and now the whole mess will go to the OFT for investigation.

Publishing News talked to Bertram Chief Terry Reilly: "We are responding to market need. Given the declining state of library book stocks, we're amazed at the reaction of these few publishers. We're not really sure what they're aiming to achieve as many progressive publishers and the [Publishers' Association] are supportive of what we're trying to do. We know that the current industry terms structure is irrational, but threatening to cut our terms as a punishment is wrong when publishers already give bigger discounts to some retailers than we ourselves receive, even though we are a wholesaler. It's hardly our fault if publishers have been too generous with supermarket discounts, and we'll always do whatever we can to offer the best prices to our customers, be they libraries or retailers."

Not surprisingly, there are divergent reactions in other corners. Standalone library suppliers said the Bertrams move seriously threatened their business. Holt Jackson CEO Kevin Holden said to the Bookseller, "I'm losing every contract that I bid for because Bertrams is bidding [at discounts] several percentage points higher. Superficially, it's in the public interest to get the cheapest possible books, but it can't be in the long-term interest for libraries to have only one supplier." And Lorna Payne, development officer for Norfolk County Council's library and information service, told Norwich Now that they would "welcome further discounts."