All, The "Baker & Taylor Closing" article was copied/pasted from issue 5080 of Shelf Awareness, dated Wednesday, October 8, 2025. The Thorndike Press Large Print/Cengage email was sent to all customers nationwide, but I thought I'd copy/paste/share for MI libraries to see just the same. Baker & Taylor Closing Only 10 days after a deal for Baker & Taylor to be [ https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.shelf-2Dawareness.com_ct_x_pjJsdgiAlLoI6axuIhF-5FEw-7Ek1yJoKXv-2Dhs8x67PUpXypoUNj-2DJEdQ&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=VZwzE-ihmVk8MWnuOKeBhdzjlCVxa_pma10LdYu6QtI&m=h-1hpekkz-HDaSgQpHbP_bqWIA6MSCIy9QOq6CQ1ss19uGT26sX-rQBpEiql_U32&s=bq6YJDCB0U8ry1dxTYsfGUkOX0purzc8WT9zTcUrJFY&e= | bought by Readerlink collapsed ] , Baker & Taylor has decided to shut down, officially by the end of the year, but a majority of its employees--about 500 out of 800--were let go on Monday in a Zoom call, former employees said. Apparently no severance will be paid, and medical benefits have ended. The library wholesaler was rumored to owe creditors, mainly publishers, as much as $26 million, and it had been having trouble obtaining inventory and filling orders. As reported by ShawLocal, [ https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.shelf-2Dawareness.com_ct_x_pjJsdgiAlLoI6axuIhF-5FSw-7Ek1yJoKXv-2Dhs8x67PUpXypoUNj-2DJEdQ&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=VZwzE-ihmVk8MWnuOKeBhdzjlCVxa_pma10LdYu6QtI&m=h-1hpekkz-HDaSgQpHbP_bqWIA6MSCIy9QOq6CQ1ss19uGT26sX-rQBpEiql_U32&s=KCP9ZV82h8Du2NWAC_7VAewMQOpvlyp62j9l1NGIRrg&e= | 253 of the 318 employees ] at B&T's Momence, Ill., warehouse were let go on Monday, and the rest will be gone by January 3. According to a report about the closing required by Illinois law, B&T said that the collapse of the Readerlink deal led to the decision to close. "Despite Baker & Taylor's subsequent efforts, it was unsuccessful in seeking a path to continue its business operations," the report said. The Momence warehouse has 379,000 square feet of space and has been in operation since 1962. In a letter almost a month ago about [ https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.shelf-2Dawareness.com_ct_x_pjJsdgiAlLoI6axuIhF-5FSA-7Ek1yJoKXv-2Dhs8x67PUpXypoUNj-2DJEdQ&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=VZwzE-ihmVk8MWnuOKeBhdzjlCVxa_pma10LdYu6QtI&m=h-1hpekkz-HDaSgQpHbP_bqWIA6MSCIy9QOq6CQ1ss19uGT26sX-rQBpEiql_U32&s=0RpRO3uz9ZuwmCVwlg4q4OgzYbI52NQxPbGvo2FO_eU&e= | the ill-fated purchase ] , Readerlink CEO Dennis E. Abboud observed, "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. Founded in 1828, B&T has long been the main supplier of books, other materials, software, and services to public and academic libraries in the U.S. While it stopped selling to bookstores in 2019, it is a distributor for some publishers through Baker & Taylor Publisher Services. For more than 30 years, B&T has suffered from a revolving door of owners, including several private equity funds--Carlyle Group, Willis Stein & Partners, and Castle Harlan Partners. In addition, in 2022 the company suffered severe cyber attacks that shut it down for weeks at a time. Follett bought B&T in 2016 and sold the company in 2021 to a private investment group headed by Aman Kochar, who had joined B&T in 2014 and was named executive v-p in 2019. Under Follett, Kochar became president and CEO. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear Large Print Buyer, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that Thorndike Press is no longer distributing our Large Print titles through Baker & Taylor. Moving forward, we would like to invite you to purchase your titles directly through Thorndike Press. We offer quick fulfillment and free shipping on all Thorndike Press books, and also a range of standing order options for libraries - curated monthly shipments of frontlist large print bestsellers, mysteries, clean/Christian romance, and more. For those of you who have been waiting for content ordered through Baker & Taylor, we have those titles in-stock and available to ship. Just call or email your Thorndike Press sales representative listed below to get your orders placed for those titles: Amber Cummings - [ mailto:amber.cummings@cengage.com | amber.cummings@cengage.com ] - GA, HI, IN, TN, TX, WY Elizabeth Harpster - [ mailto:elizabeth.harpster@cengage.com | elizabeth.harpster@cengage.com ] - AR, AZ, IA, ID, KS, ME, ND, NE, NV, NY Lisa Wilson - [ mailto:lisa.wilson@cengage.com | lisa.wilson@cengage.com ] - IL, NM, OH, SC, WA Melinda Rossignol - [ mailto:melinda.rossignol@cengage.com | melinda.rossignol@cengage.com ] - CO, KY, MI, OR, RI, SD, UT, VA, VT Julie Tilsner - [ mailto:Julie.tilsner@cengage.com | Julie.tilsner@cengage.com ] - CA, DC, MN, NC, OK Peggy Sheehan - [ mailto:peg.sheehan@cengage.com | peg.sheehan@cengage.com ] - CT, DE, FL, MA, MD, MT, NH, WI Vicki Gordon - [ mailto:vicki.gordon@cengage.com | vicki.gordon@cengage.com ] - AK, AL, LA, MO, MS, NJ, PA, WV As always, we thank you for choosing Thorndike Press as your partner for your librarys accessible large print collection! Brian Risse Cengage School Vice President: Gale and Thorndike Sales Cell: 203.313.5022 Email: [ mailto:brian.risse@cengage.com | brian.risse@cengage.com ] Time Zone: EST [ https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__cengagegroup.com_&d=DwMFAg&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=iJ7Qlye5mk59pQHpYKILwg&m=-gPIf36zj99CrAShG53yY__krBv-nR-LRqVPnY8l7lWCJgLcuzhTC3XjkQ1C0ury&s=Hv1uqUawrzjXm3AUzTvC8xOhwvTOEOlh89asPadL564&e= | CengageGroup.com ] Jim Jim Flury Technical Services Manager The Library Network 41365 Vincenti Court Novi, MI 48375 248-536-3100, ext 133 Note New Fax Number: 248-716-5584 Note New Email Address:jflury@tln.org