Take a number.

That was the Guam Public School System's response to a Honolulu-based publishing company's pleas for payment for regionally themed books ordered by the local education agency as far back as last August.

GPSS owes Bess Press Inc. $126,619.12 for books about Chamorro society and Pacific history and culture. The publisher said there has been no communication from GPSS since last year on any commitment to resolve the outstanding balance.

Bess Press, while a small company, is well known in the region and is highly regarded as a friend of Pacific libraries and librarians.

"We understand the severe financial problems in Guam," said publisher Benjamin Bess. In the 15-year relationship with Guam, he said, his publishing company hasn't complained about delayed payments of a couple or even a few months.

Bess said his company is one of the few "that has taken the time, energy and risk in publishing books that nobody else has done."

These books include: the Chamorro Word Book, Field Guide to Caves and Kaarst of Guam, Ancient Chamorro Society, Pacific Neighbors, and Pacific Nations and Territories, to name a few.

"I understand the islands, and the people of Guam have been wonderful," Bess said. "But there has been no positive response to the monies that are owed. This has a direct impact on what I can publish."

Bess said his company would appreciate "even a commitment to pay through a payment plan."

"We've shown good faith over the years. We've never gone legal," he said. "But this has become a very difficult situation."

Guam Public School System Superintendent Luis Reyes yesterday said the system does owe the money for the book orders, but hasn't received enough money to pay its vendors.

The education agency already struggles to meet its employee payroll each pay period. Each week, the department is flooded with payment demands for overdue utilities and other expenses.

So like air-conditioning repair services contractors and photocopying suppliers, the superintendent said, Bess Press will just have to wait in line.

Bess Press, an independent book publishing company, was founded in 1979 with the reprint of two Hawaiian history textbooks. Its list of titles has grown significantly over the years to include more than 200 trade and educational publications about Hawai'i and the Pacific.

The company last year published a coffee table book on the late Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, "IZ: Voice of the People," by Rick Carroll.