These days we hear a lot about the supply chain. It’s a phrase often used to explain why there are fewer items than normal available for purchase. You have probably experienced this when looking for a product at the grocery store, not finding it, and looking for a possible substitute.  Or maybe you’re having trouble getting an item repaired because a necessary part isn’t available, and you’re waiting for that part to be shipped. 

Just like you, we at The Library are anticipating some supply chain disruptions that will affect how quickly we receive book orders. We want you to know why this is and the steps we are taking to reduce the impact on you, our members. 

Though it’s taken a while for our libraries to experience supply chain disruptions surrounding book orders, we must admit that we are beginning to see some orders taking longer to arrive, and sometimes we only get a portion of the items we ordered. Our publishing vendors are alerting us that this is expected to continue into 2022.

Why Is This Happening?

There are several reasons that publishers and libraries are now feeling the impact of supply chain issues on book production. Whether it’s due to consolidations within various industries, the difficulty in getting materials from overseas producers through our congested ports, or labor shortages, these all affect how quickly we are getting our orders.  

Here are just some of the issues:

• Shortages in the production of wood pulp to make paper. Consolidation of paper mills and printing presses means not as many companies to meet the demand.
• Shortages in the manufacturing of components that are part of the printing process – for example, fewer ink manufacturers.
• Fewer printing presses to create books.
• Paper production and printing is concentrated overseas resulting in physical items, such as books, having to be shipped to U.S. ports.
• Congestion at U.S. ports is delaying the offloading of products.
• Labor shortages affect many points along the supply chain such as fewer truck drivers and warehouse workers.

Several of the issues now facing book manufacturers aren’t due to recent events, such as Covid, but can be traced back to events from years ago when companies consolidated or moved certain processes to other locations. 

But all is not doom and gloom. 

What Are We and Our Vendors Doing?

Thankfully our book vendors informed us early enough to explain what they are doing to meet the needs of libraries while also telling libraries what we can do to reduce some of the impacts to you, our members.   

Our Vendors:

We use several vendors when making materials purchases. All of them indicate that they are:

• Beefing up their inventory to meet the order requests from libraries. 
• Ordering warehouse-related supplies so once orders come in, the ordered items can get into boxes and be shipped to libraries.
• Working to increase staffing.
• Working with publishers to get available books as soon as possible to allow them to stock the titles to fulfill library orders.

And because publishers plan well in advance for the holiday season, they have ordered initial print runs that are quite large so our vendors can stock up on the titles most likely to be in demand. 

But even as our publishers and vendors tell us what they are doing, there are still some unknowns that could create delays in the next few months and into 2022.

• There is concern that when a title’s initial print run is exhausted, publishers will have difficulty scheduling subsequent orders for more of that title. That’s because the subsequent print runs generally come from overseas printers, and if there is continued congestion in the world’s shipping lanes and at our ports, it will create delays in getting items to libraries. Though publishers are ordering lots of copies for the well-known authors, even then, when the initial print run is exhausted, getting additional copies could be delayed.
• Another concern has to do with the “hard-to-predict” titles that go viral, and everyone suddenly wants. Publishers don’t have crystal balls, so if they didn’t anticipate a title doing well and didn’t plan a large initial print run, then there will be delays for libraries in getting those titles.
• And titles by debut authors or less well-known authors may be hard to get, or their works may be delayed in being published until later in 2022 or beyond when it is hoped this situation will be resolved.

Your Library:

We have taken the advice of our vendors and are doing the following:

• Ordering titles as early as possible. Doing so puts us higher in the ordering queue, and should vendors not receive as many copies as they ordered, we would be better positioned to receive the majority if not all of what we order.
• Continually meeting with our staff selectors to update them on the supply chain issues and setting up deadlines to get orders in that allow as much lead time as possible.
• Communicating with our vendors to make sure they can give us as much of a lead time as possible so we can get orders in early.

We truly believe that these steps will allow us to have the titles that are wanted in the coming months and into 2022. We realize that even doing all that is suggested, there are no guarantees that some titles may be limited in quantity or hard to get for a while, but eventually, the issues that contributed to the supply chain delays will end.

In the meantime, your library has lots of books to offer, and we get new materials arriving practically every day.  We also have titles in other formats such as audiobooks, in large print and, of course, eBooks—think Hoopla and Libby/OverDrive. 

Be sure to talk with us about your concerns and to ask us for reading recommendations.  If you’ve not used our BookAdvisor service, you might find you like receiving personalized recommendations. 

You might also enjoy our DiscoverREADS eNewsletter. It provides book recommendations from our catalog for the specific genres you enjoy reading. It provides both new and older titles, so you will several options to choose from while you’re waiting for the newest bestseller from your favorite author to arrive.

Above all, if you have questions about the supply chain issue or what to read next, be sure to ask us.

Want to know more about the supply chain issues surrounding the book publishing industry? Vox published a great article entitled “The Great Book Shortage of 2021, Explained” on October 6 that did a great job explaining the issue.