In the 10 days since the collapse of the deal by which Readerlink Distribution Service was to buy the business and "substantially all the assets" of Baker & Taylor, concern about B&T's financial state and disrupted service has spread in the book world. The company is said to have substantial debts to publishers and has notified customers that they would not receive orders for weeks and possibly longer. Reportedly, in preparation for the deal B&T cancelled all open purchase orders, planning to issue new ones under Readerlink, leading to current low inventory.
In a letter about the original deal, Readerlink CEO Dennis E. Abboud observed that "the last several months have been a challenging period for Baker & Taylor. The company has faced headwinds, including the pressures of operating independently, emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, and overcoming the debilitating impacts and financial losses resulting from cyberattacks in 2022." The library world has also suffered from budgetary pressures at all levels of government, as well as waves of book bannings and anti-librarian laws and campaigns.
In response to the unsettled situation at B&T, Ingram Content Group has reported increased demand for its library services. Carolyn Morris, v-p of Ingram Library Services, told Shelf Awareness that Ingram has seen "significant growth" over the last couple of years and has opened a thousand new accounts this year alone. Morris said she believes that, generally, libraries are seeking "a broader selection of books and faster delivery than a decade ago." With its four warehouses and millions of titles in inventory, Ingram is appealing to more libraries that, for example, are seeking titles suddenly popular on BookTok.
She noted, too, that "for decades" Ingram, which has 30 librarians on staff, has provided shelf-ready service for big-city library systems, including Chicago and Denver, and has a lot of experience with cataloging and collection development as well as supplying backlist and titles "beyond the mainstream."
Amy Williams, v-p marketing for Ingram, added, "We consider the library community a big part of the Ingram family, and we want to make sure libraries continue to thrive even in these times of market disruption."