Baker & Taylor has filed a surprise Chapter 11 bankruptcy notice with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New Jersey. The filing caught many in the industry by surprise as B&T closed its doors when it ran out of funds following the failed sale of the company to ReaderLink.

The speculation about the filing is that the library wholesaler raised enough money through its liquidation sale of books, shelves, and other items that creditors forced them to go to court to account for the where the money was, and is, going. While it is assumed that most of the funds raised went to the banks and secured creditors, the filing says there is still money available to pay unsecured creditors.

The filing, signed by B&T CEO Aman Kochar, indicates the deep hole B&T still finds itself in. The document shows that B&T has estimated assets of $1 million to $10 million and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. The number of creditors ranges from 1,000 to 5,000.

Among B&T's largest creditors is Penguin Random House, which alone is owed $23.4 million. Other Big Five publishers owed big money are Simon & Schuster, out $16.4 million, and HarperCollins, owed $15.6 million. The other two Big Five publishers are not among B&T’s top 20 unsecured creditors.

Other industry players owed significant sums include Ingram’s distribution arm, Ingram Publisher Services, which is out nearly $1.8 million (Ingram is aggressively taking steps to take over as much of B&T’s library business as it can); Scholastic Teaching Resources, owed nearly $2 million; and Wiley, owed $1.5 million.

Large print publisher Thorndike Press, owned by Cengage, is owed $3.5 million. The smallest publisher on the list owed money is independent publisher Norton, which is out almost $2 million.

B&T even owes multiple libraries—the Palm Beach County Library System is owed $1.4 million and the Richland County Public Library of Columbia, S.C. is owed $985,000.

Given the huge gap between B&T’s assets and what they owe their creditors, one observer told PW that companies will be lucky to receive pennies on the dollar.