Follett Content, a distributor of children’s and young adult (YA) print books, content, and services to PreK–12 school libraries, announced in September that it will begin distributing to public libraries throughout the United States. And Mackin, another major provider of fiction and nonfiction print books and digital resources to PreK–12 school libraries, announced in October the launch of MackinPublic, “a seamless extension” of the company’s services to U.S. public libraries, according to Mackin. Both moves were made as problems mounted for library book wholesaler, distributor, and service provider Baker & Taylor, culminating in an announcement on October 6 that the company would lay off more than 500 employees and fully cease operations in January 2026. The two companies join library suppliers Ingram and Libraria (formerly Children’s Plus, Inc.) in working to fill the public library field’s substantial distribution gaps following Baker & Taylor’s bankruptcy.

Britten Follett, CEO of Follett Content, told LJ that the company began researching how they could serve the public library space “months ago…. I knew Baker & Taylor was going through some financial challenges. I did not know that they were at the end of the rope. But we knew that public library customers were waiting, in some cases, months for their books.”

The Follett family had acquired Baker & Taylor in 2016 from the private equity firm Castle Harlan Partners, later selling the company to an investment group led by Baker & Taylor CEO Amandeep Kochar in 2021, around the same time that Follett divested its corporate entity—the Follett Corporation—along with Follett School Solutions and Follett Higher Education Group. Prior to and during these divestments, Baker & Taylor suffered a decrease in print orders as libraries throughout the U.S. shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Less than a year after going private, Baker & Taylor was hit with a major cyberattack in 2022, which also had a prolonged impact on the company’s operations.

During the five years that the Follett family owned Baker & Taylor as a subsidiary, “it didn’t make sense for Follett Content Solutions to sell public library books,” Britten Follett explained. “Baker & Taylor focused on public libraries, we focused on schools.” Now that the dust has settled from all the changes at Follett during the past several years, “it felt like the public library space was something we should at least consider,” she added.

When Baker & Taylor’s customers began experiencing significant delays with orders, “I said, ‘can we service this market out of the box?’” Follett asked. “We have books. You need books. We have a fantastic processing team that can put [shelf-ready] stickers on your books and get them to your specifications in a timely manner. The answer to that, at a high level, is ‘yes,’ although there are nuances to public libraries that I am well aware of, both from my history and the market research we’ve done in the past several months.” She added that the company is currently best suited to service small and medium-sized public libraries and will be looking into investments that will help streamline the ordering processes and fulfill requirements in place at larger metropolitan systems. The company is also already looking into requests from public librarians for new features for its Titlewave online collection development platform.

Troy Mikell, director of marketing and communication for Mackin, said that the company has worked with a few public libraries for years, although almost all the company’s business has involved serving PreK–12 schools. But more public librarians had begun “asking questions of our sales reps more frequently over the past few weeks,” he told LJ. “Knowing who is out there—ourselves, Follett, a few others that are capable of servicing public libraries at the level where they need to be helped—there just aren’t that many. Business and competition aside, I think those folks that can help library systems, like ourselves, [are] not only in a good position, we’re really anxious to help…. We built our business on helping—helping schools, helping students, and helping educators. This is just an easy and natural extension.”

And while recent distribution problems have been frustrating for public librarians, Mikell said that the introduction of new suppliers in the public library market will eventually benefit the field. “Not that Baker & Taylor was a monopoly, but they kind of owned that market,” he said. “This shakeup will provide opportunity for public libraries to shop around and find a better price or find a better service.”

Offering an inventory of more than 3.7 million in-stock books from 6,000 publishers, Follett Content processes more than 50,000 print books daily for its current school library customer base. Mackin offers access to more than 4.2 million print and digital titles from nearly 18,000 publishers. Both distributors offer shelf-ready cataloged and processed titles with spine and barcode labels, MARC records, and Mylar covers, with additional options such as RFID tagging available.

Both distributors also offer a large selection of titles specially bound in-house for durability; with MackinBound books featuring acid-free, non-yellowing end-sheets, laminated covers for easy cleaning, and guaranteed no-charge replacement if the binding fails; and FollettBound offering the option of either sewed or glued bindings, acid-free end-sheets, laminated covers, and their own lifetime guarantee. In addition, Mackin distributes a wide selection of Makerspace products through its MackinMaker division, and those will be available to public library customers as well, Mikell said.

“Mackin’s goal has always been to provide libraries of every type with easy access to affordable, high-quality books and educational content that help students learn and thrive,” Randal Heise, co-owner of Mackin, said in an announcement. “It’s exciting to bring the same level of service and expertise we are known for to the public arena.”

Public libraries can place print orders on Follett Content’s Titlewave platform. To set up a free account, librarians can call 888-511-5114 or learn more at k12.follettcontent.com/public-library-solutions. The company is offering free shipping on all orders, plus additional savings to help public librarians get started.

To set up a free MackinPublic account, librarians can visit home.mackin.com/library/public-libraries or call 800-245-9540 to speak with a customer service representative. Mackin also offers free shipping on all U.S. orders that exceed $50.