What is the difference in a book club edition and a retail outlet???  They look the same to me and I sometimes see where they are specified in the listing that they are BCE.  I don't understand. 

I'm just guessing here, but BCE may mean hardcover ordered from a book club through the mail. I order them sometimes and I noticed they are different from the regular hardcover books sold in a book store like Borders.  They're smaller and cheaper.

The binding is less sturdy on the Book Club Editions.  And sometimes they are a smaller font than the HB.  Which is a problem if one is asking for the HB due to vision problems.   But then they often reissue PBs in a double or triple volume, like the Mercy books by Patricia Briggs are only available as BCE HBs or PBs, never issued as HB. 

Library binding is a more sturdy binding, designed to hold up.  Some trade PBs and MMPBs are made into library binding books.  I think that this might be an after market change, that there might be companies that rebind books.  Children's books show up alot in library binding.

Thank you Veronica and Emily.  I usually get my collectibles from book clubs because I find it hard to find them anywhere else.  Now I see that it is usually because they are the only ones who have them.  I have many ordered where there are more than 1 story.  I just ordered Maryjanice Davidson's "Betsy" series in 2 books.  Easier and doesn't take alot of room on shelves.  Also ordered Lora Leigh's new book "Only Pleasure" in HC.  I save this series and I like to have HC/DJ on my keeper shelves.