Hi Jim,
Good to hear from you! Here’s what I would have to say:
Ingram has had very few service delays since the pandemic began. In fact, Ingram ships a vast majority of orders the same day for in-stock unprocessed materials. Processed materials take just a couple of days more. Our latest statistics indicate we are shipping books to more than 91% of the country in less than two days. During the pandemic, we have been continuously hiring warehouse staff to meet increasing demand. Ingram also has the largest active inventory of any distributor by far – well over 17 MILLION titles -- and in most cases Ingram customers have been receiving orders just as quickly as they were before the pandemic. In fact, in 2020 we took more than 770,000 library orders, shipped 18.4 million pounds of materials to libraries (more than 1.2 million cartons), and completed 25 Opening Day Collections on time. We know libraries receiving their materials as fast as possible is absolutely critical, and we’re committed to helping them do so. Libraries interested in working with Ingram can reach me at eric.shotwell@ingramcontent.com or by phone at (248) 660-9449. We offer both unprocessed materials and also full cataloging and processing services. There’s no cost to use Ingram’s ipage selection software, including unlimited user accounts for libraries. Michigan customers receive excellent discounts and Ingram-paid shipping courtesy of our statewide/TLN agreement. And we also offer curated lists and standing order programs at no charge.
Eric Shotwell
Senior Sales Representative, Great Lakes Region
Ingram Library Services
eric.shotwell@ingramcontent.com
Cell: (248) 535-5962
Office: (248) 660-9449
Twitter: @Shotwell
He/Him