Butler County libraries seek other suppliers after shuttering of major distributor
New book releases may reach Butler County libraries a little slower than usual because of the closing of Baker & Taylor, a book distributor that announced it would permanently close at the start of 2026.
It’s a particularly challenging turn for the Cranberry Public Library, which gets nearly 90% of its books from the business. The library started seeking a new supplier when word of Baker & Taylor’s closure began circulating.
Leslie Pallotta, director of the Cranberry Public Library, said the organization moved its unfilled and expected orders from Baker & Taylor to Ingram Content Group, but the shift has already led to delays.
“Typically we are placing orders anywhere from two to four months out,” Pallotta said. “The challenge with Ingram is so many libraries have shifted over that they’re slow at shipping items.”
News publications began reporting that Baker & Taylor was preparing to cease operations in the fall, but Pallotta said the Cranberry Public Library became aware of the pending closure in the summer.
Peter Bess, assistant director of the Butler Area Public Library, said it mainly gets its fiction books through Baker & Taylor, with other materials coming from other outlets. Baker & Taylor’s closure has delayed the Butler library in getting some books on the shelves and Bess said orders have been made to Amazon.
He explained Baker & Taylor would provide a list of coming books to the library, allowing the person placing an order to select a certain title or author and have it ready on the shelves once a book was released. Different staff members with the Butler Area Public Library order different materials — the children’s librarian orders children’s books, for example. Bess said materials will have to be found in other ways without Baker & Taylor.
“We would choose the authors we would want titles from, then we would change that as needed. If we notice an author started to not be borrowed as much, we would change it,” Bess said. “We have not been able to get them the last month or so … we’re probably going to get them through Amazon.”
Not all of the libraries in Butler County are affected by the closure.
Michelle Lesniak, director of South Butler Community Library, said her library did not order from Baker & Taylor, so it has remained unaffected by its closure so far.
Janae Callihan, director of Mars Area Public Library, said it has been affected by the closure, not because it is stocked by Baker & Taylor, but by one of its competitors, Ingram Content Group.
“They are struggling with the increase,” said Callihan. “We are seeing a little slower of a purchasing timeline.”
When in a pinch, some librarians can grab a book from a local provider, Barnes & Noble, for example, which is about a mile away from the Cranberry Public Library. However, Pallotta said this is usually reserved for emergencies, because the price of buying a single book is different than buying books in bulk from a distributor.
“The advantage to working with library-specific vendors is that they can give deep discounts to libraries,” she said. “We’re very aware of that and do our best to spend wisely.”
Bess said Butler is making plans to ensure it gets all the books it ordered and the ones it expected to receive from Baker & Taylor in some way or another, even if it takes longer than expected. He said other book distributors might try to step in to the gap left by Baker & Taylor, but it hasn’t happened yet.
“The field is whittling down when there are so many businesses competing,” Bess said. “It’s definitely sad to see a company go under, but at the same time we will continue to be able to get materials.”
