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Larkspur library wins two small grants as director warns of distributor disruption
Summary
The Larkspur library director told the board the library received an $11,600 grant for firewall replacement and an $8,600 Zip Book grant, and warned that distributor Baker & Taylor's failure to fulfill orders could lengthen patrons' wait times while staff seek alternative vendors.
The Larkspur Library director reported that the library has been awarded two state grants and is scrambling to respond to a national distributor's troubles. At the board's meeting the director said the library received an $11,600 grant "to replace our firewall" and an $8,600 award to continue the Zip Book program that buys niche titles requested by patrons.
"We got an $11,600 grant to replace our firewall. So this will be our last networking upgrade," the library director said. On the Zip Book program the director said the state's $8,600 will "supplement our collection for requests from patrons for books that aren't in our current Marinette catalog." The director described changes to Fulfillment: earlier Zip Book deliveries went to patrons' homes but will now be held at the library for pickup.
The director also alerted the board that distributor Baker & Taylor has been unable to fulfill orders and is "on the verge of bankruptcy," creating delays in getting newly released titles. "They're not able to fulfill their orders," the director said, adding that staff are exploring alternative vendors such as Ingram and Bridal and buying some titles through Amazon while they reconfigure workflows.
The board heard that the library's annual book budget is "about $50,000," and the director warned that switching vendors is nontrivial because many vendors provide shelf-ready processing (mylar jackets, stickers and catalog records) that the library currently relies on. "Each book... takes, like, 10 minutes" of processing time, the director said, underscoring labor and cataloging impacts if the library must accept less-processed shipments.
Board members asked whether the library had prepaid funds at risk; the director said the library is invoiced after shipment and has not lost money to date. The director said the library will continue to pursue vendor meetings this week to find a long-term replacement and will report back to the board on progress.
Next steps: staff will continue vendor discussions and purchase limited titles via Amazon as a temporary workaround; the board asked the director to update members at future meetings if hold times or patron complaints rise.
