Data collected from library acquisition records on microfiche helped ascertain the effects of the Thor Power Tool Company Supreme Court decision in 1979 on a sampling of four randomly selected schools in the Atlanta Public School System between 1978 and 1985. Prior to this decision, some publishers kept a substantial inventory of backlist titles and took write-downs for income tax purposes; however, this decision mandates that, retroactive to 1979, inventory that is neither damaged nor sold at a discount must be taxed. The percentage of titles out of print between 1980 and 1985 increased at the elementary level, as expected, but an unexplained decrease was found at the high school level. A consistently higher ratio of hardback to paperback books ordered was found for 1980 to 1985 contrary to publishers' predictions. No correlation was found between the ratio of book price changes and the rate of inflation between 1978 and 1985. It was concluded that secondary and elementary school librarian's percentage of difficulty in obtaining additional and/or replacement titles had not increased significantly since 1980. Supporting statistical data are presented in 2 tables, 3 figures, and 16 appendices. A list of references is also provided. (KM)