A week ago, I learned about the closure of book distribution giant Baker & Taylor, and I felt a sense of loss as B&T was a part of my professional life since I started working in the library in 1974.

Have you been curious as to where all of those lovely books come from that grace library (and bookstore) shelves, many appearing on the publication day, or has it even entered your mind to wonder? The answer is that many of them are provided by the giant company Baker & Taylor, which has distribution centers around the U.S. They also provided services that made the lives easier of anyone who did library collection development (I was a fan of Automatically Yours, a service that automatically sent books by popular authors, and title catalogs, which listed major forthcoming books and print runs.)

Book Picker or Blackjack Dealer?

In the late 1970s or early 1980s, my husband and I both worked for the library system and were slated to be laid off should a library levy not pass. One of our options was moving to Reno, Nevada, so we spent a few days there, touring the Baker & Taylor distribution center and casinos. I was thinking I could get a job at B&T, or if that didn’t work out, become a blackjack dealer (no joke). Spoiler: the levy passed, and I didn’t spend the rest of my career as a book order picker or dealing cards in a smoky casino.

“Books. Cats. Life is Good.” — T. S. Eliot

In 1983, the Minden (Nevada) Library acquired a Scottish Fold cat they named Baker after he was found sleeping in Baker & Taylor boxes. They wanted another but couldn’t afford one, so the company agreed to obtain another cat (and if I remember correctly, paid for their care), in return for using them for promotional purposes. In 1990, my husband and I were passing through Minden and stopped to meet the cats, which remains a highlight of my life. Despite our visit interrupting the staff’s workflow, they graciously took me to the back room for a “meet and greet.” If you can’t tell, Baker wasn’t very cool with having his photo taken, but he enjoyed the scritches. The story of the cats is chronicled in the lovely book, The True Tails of Baker & Taylor, by the then-library director, Jan Louch. However, a mutual colleague informed me that parts were not entirely factual, but I didn’t care; I still loved the book.You can find my Goodreads review here.  

So, how will libraries obtain their books after B&T ceases its operation? Most will probably use Ingram’s, another big distribution company, but it’s going to take time to get it all sorted out. So my advice is to please be patient if your library doesn’t get books on the shelves or your hold isn’t filled as quickly as before.