As you may recall, in early October we shared some devastating news about the closure of Baker & Taylor, opens a new window, a U.S.-based company that supplies books to schools, bookstores, and libraries, including Pima County Public Library.
At the time, we shared how this would cause delays and that we would be working hard to ensure that we put new systems in place to lessen the impact as much as possible.
We want to take the opportunity to share more information with you about what the closure has meant for us, what we're doing moving forward, and what you can expect over the next few months.
The unanticipated Baker & Taylor (B&T) closure has fundamentally changed the way we have to do things to get books to you.
Ultimately, library staff have taken on the roles that hundreds of B&T staff previously held and oversaw.
Can't we just order from Amazon? Believe it or not, B&T was the primary supplier to Amazon. Amazon is not in a position to fill the volume of content we, and all libraries nationwide, require.
Does this mean you're changing your buying strategy to focus on eBooks and audiobooks? We have not changed our purchasing model. Ebooks and audiobooks are supplied by an entirely separate vendor, thus they remain more readily accessible. Rather, this is a supply chain issue for print books only. We are still committed to ensuring folks have the format they want, be it digital or print.
What happens now and moving forward?
- In the wake of B&T's closure, libraries are shifting toward purchasing primarily from Ingram Books. We are in the process of negotiating a larger contract with Ingram to fill the hole left by B&T. We anticipate contract agreements to be finalized within the next month.
- Once the contract is finalized, we will begin ordering through Ingram to prioritize and fill existing holds and purchase additional copies to meet demand. We expect things to get back on track by February 2026.
- We will be prioritizing books that have holds on them!
- We will also continue to look for and purchase new, forthcoming, and interesting books, as we always have.
We understand how frustrating this is for you and we sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding. Please remember, we are working very hard behind the scenes to cause as little disruption to you as possible.
