Iowa libraries left in a lurch after closure of major book supplier

IOWA CITY — Well over 100 people piled into the Iowa City Public Library on Saturday to hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Iowa author Art Cullen.

The room was packed with readers of all ages and backgrounds — lured in by the promise of Cullen’s reflections on the transformation of rural America and its evolving, yet urgent environmental challenges.

At the end of his talk, attendees were urged to learn more by reading Cullen’s new book, “Dear Marty, We Crapped in Our Nest: Notes from the Edge of the World.” The library, however, had zero copies to loan out to interested readers.

“We had Art Cullen here, but we didn’t have his book,” said Iowa City Public Library Director Anne Mangano. “It’s not because we didn’t have it on order — we ordered it months ago. It just wasn’t here.”

Mangano said the issue was one of a growing number the library has experienced with Baker & Taylor, the wholesale book distributor from whom the Iowa City library gets the majority of its physical materials.

The Iowa City Public Library has partnered with Baker & Taylor for decades, and for much of that time the relationship was a positive one. But more recently, Mangano said staff began seeing issues with delivery delays and lagging communication.

Then last week, the other shoe was dropped. After nearly 200 years, Baker & Taylor — the largest single supplier of content to American libraries — would be ceasing its operations. The news quickly ricocheted through literary circles in Iowa and beyond, leaving many wondering what’s next for libraries left behind.

“Baker & Taylor supply well over 5,000 libraries with materials. It is the No. 1 distributor for public libraries in the country,” Mangano said. “It’s a shocking loss for the library community.”

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Baker & Taylor began in 1828 as a bookbinding and publishing business that soon expanded to distributing books via horse-drawn carriage. Over the years, the company grew into a literary giant with thousands of customers around the globe.

Many of those customers were public libraries who turned to Baker & Taylor to save money on wholesale book orders and other essential processing services.

Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, described the North Carolina-based company as a longtime staple within the broader library community and a seasoned partner to lending institutions nationwide.

“They’ve been instrumental for decades,” said Helmick, who also is an Iowa City-based librarian. “There’s no one-to-one replacement.”

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But in more recent years, the company has faced mounting financial struggles that eventually led to a proposed acquisition deal between Baker & Taylor and ReaderLink, an Illinois-based wholesaler.

That deal fell apart late last month, however, and per Publishers Weekly, Baker & Taylor CEO Aman Kochar told employees last week that he no longer sees a sustainable path to stay in business.

According to that report, the company is expected to wind down its operations in the coming months — leaving many of its partner libraries reeling and questioning when and where they can acquire new materials.

Impact to libraries will be broad, but mixed

The impact of the Baker & Taylor closure will be felt throughout the library community, although Helmick said impacts will likely vary depending on a given library’s size, budget and overall reliance on Baker & Taylor.

Libraries with smaller budgets — including many in rural areas — could be hit harder, Helmick said, given that libraries could see cost increases from moving to new suppliers. Baker & Taylor often offered the best discounts in the industry, making them a favorite when it came to getting the most bang for your buck.

The impact also will vary depending on how large the percentage of a given library’s books were coming from Baker & Taylor and which ancillary services were included in that agreement.

In an emailed statement, library director Dara Schmidt said that Baker & Taylor has been a longtime supplier for the Cedar Rapids Public Library and that the closure is expected to have “a direct impact on services.”

In particular, the closure will impact the processing of new materials previously handled by Baker & Taylor. That work will now need to be done in house, “which means more work for staff and may increase wait times for some materials.”

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But given recent tumult at the company, Schmidt said the library “has been working with alternate vendors over the past several months to ensure there are efficient pathways forward. Even though it may take a little longer, we are confident our patrons will have continued access to new titles.”

Mangano also stressed the importance of alternative partnerships, stating that the Iowa City Public Library had already begun to increase its orders through secondary vendors in recent months.

Still, it’s a large lift. Last year, 84 percent of the Iowa City library’s new materials came from Baker & Taylor. In addition, the library had six months worth of orders into Baker & Taylor when the closure was suddenly announced.

“They sent an email (on Monday) explaining that they’ll try to fulfill the orders that they can, … but we ended up canceling all those and just ordering them (from a different supplier)” to better ensure delivery, Mangano said.

Libraries across the country are left in similar positions as they rush to alternate suppliers to acquire new materials. There’s only so many wholesale suppliers out there, however, meaning some delays are likely as the market adjusts.

Already, libraries across Iowa — including those in North Liberty, McGregor and Clarence — have taken to blog posts and social media explainers asking patrons for understanding and patience in the meantime.

Libraries “are telling communities what they know and they’re telling communities what they’re still trying to figure out,” Helmick said. “All we can do is hope for and appreciate (patrons’) patience.”

Comments: grace.nieland@thegazette.com