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We've been buying multiple copies of titles for reading groups since 2001 at Reading Libraries. We buy 15 copies, and select them by asking groups to give us suggestions. We then select titles from those suggestions that we think will have the widest appeal (or weed out the bizarre ones). Or we order popular titles that we think will be good for discussion, e.g. winners of prizes such as Orange or Booker, the odd Richard and Judy title. We also check that we're not duplicating titles that have been purchased by local authorities, unless it's likely to be very popular (e.g. Orange prize winners).
 
We haven't yet had much of a problem disposing of sets, as we are setting up and registering new groups all the time, so there are always some groups who haven't read our oldest titles. We've only withdrawn two sets from the collection so far; a few copies have gone into ordinary stock, but there is a problem of how to dispose of the others. This is another reason for trying to select titles that will remain popular over time; copies get lost and damaged along the way, so by the time a set is ready for withrdrawal there will probably be few enough left to disperse around our branches.
 
We share our sets with Buckinghamshire libraries; we make bookings with one another by email, and send the books on the vans that collect and deliver interlibrary loans. This is working well, and gives the most voracious or fussy groups extra titles to choose from.  For this to work, a certain amount of generosity and flexibility is needed, but also reliability - knowing that the authority is managing its sets well and will return them to us on time.