Libraries of all sizes needed new places for their materials when wholesaler Baker & Taylor closed late last year, and vendors are trying to meet the demand. Those filling the post-B&T void include Amazon Business, Barnes & Noble, Follett Content, Ingram Library Services, and Libraria.

At Ingram, VP of library services Carolyn Morris says managing an “incredible increase” in the volume of account requests is “not a flip of the switch.” She adds, “We can’t go to double the units we do. But our infrastructure was already scalable.”

Ingram will introduce an updated back-end system for libraries, and is refining its ipage ordering system to better field new and existing customers’ requests. The company has hired 12 new associates, including four librarian consultants, to augment its cataloging, electronic data interchange, sales, and customer service, plus 100 workers across four distribution centers. It is also working on reducing its backlog, with an expectation of returning to “our normal turnaround time” this month, Morris says.

Follett Content moved into the public library sector in September, having learned that librarians were waiting months for B&T orders.

“We came to an inflection point,” says CEO Britten Follett. “Do we focus on small and middle-size libraries because we can do that out of the box, or do we invest to grow and meet the needs of the larger systems?” Sensing a “massive need,” Follett adds, the company began exploring ways to enhance its collection development tools and design new options for the changing market with the goal of serving libraries of all sizes.

“We’re using the institutional knowledge that Follett had when we owned B&T, combined with some of the best talent at B&T”—including new hires—“because we want this done yesterday,” Follett says.

Other vendors are expanding, too. Libraria, which previously sold pre-K–12 titles, began offering adult titles as of January 1. Libraria has made “at least 10” strategic hires of ex-B&T personnel. “These are book-loving people who need book-loving jobs, and familiar industry faces that librarians recognize and trust,” says Libraria marketing specialist Sara Mantia.

A recent entry to the field, Amazon Business, launched its Books for Libraries hub during the American Library Association conference last June. According to an Amazon spokesperson, “Our goal is to make the program accessible and valuable for the diverse library community, regardless of size or annual purchase budget.” Amazon Business promises “competitive, library-specific pricing and access to machine-readable cataloging records.”

Past B&T clients are weighing options going forward. Ellen Paul, executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium, an organization of more than 1,000 libraries, prompted members to open secondary accounts when problems at B&T began. Paul says, “We’re on the side of the libraries, and it’s a best practice for libraries to have accounts with more than one vendor in case somebody is unable to meet their needs.”

Ralph Bingham, executive director of the nonprofit LibraryLinkNJ, echoes Paul. “We need to be paying attention to the financial state of the vendors and looking for warning signs like the lack of fulfillment,” he says. In collaboration with the New Jersey Library Association, LibraryLinkNJ created a materials acquisition landing page to host vendors’ informational webinars and instructional videos.

While vendors play catch-up, some libraries are completing their book processing in-house. At Tacoma Public Library in Washington, collections manager Lesley Caldwell has a team working with “a laminator, mylar covers, stickers, everything we need.” TPL, an Ingram client, has established a secondary account with Libraria as well.

CLC’s Paul is curious what the exhibit floor will look like when the Public Library Association gathers in Minneapolis in April. “I don’t think we’re done seeing new vendors come in, and I don’t know if we’re done seeing vendors exit,” Paul says. “In the next two years, we’ll see how all this shakes out.”