Library holds taking forever? You're not alone.

Navy Yard resident Scott Kirkwood is used to juggling a dozen library holds at any given time and, as of a year and a half ago, checking out four to five books a month. 

But in the last six months, Kirkwood said he’s picked up just one single book from his D.C. Public Library branch. It’s not that other people beat him to the punch — he gets a weekly email from the library about new books they’ve ordered, so he’s often one of the first people to place a hold. It’s that his hold requests aren’t getting filled anymore. 

“It seemed odd that I used to get books regularly, and all of a sudden I was getting nothing,” said Kirkwood. 

He’s resorted to other ways of getting his reading fix: checking out audiobooks and e-books instead, and sometimes even borrowing titles from the Arlington Public Library, which has a reciprocal agreement with D.C. But these aren’t ideal alternatives for him.

“It's just sad to have a great library system where you just can't get new books,” said Kirkwood.

He isn’t imagining things: Two weeks ago, DCPL sent out a notice to their customers about book delivery delays, citing the closure of one of their biggest distributors, Baker & Taylor. The 200-year-old company, which closed in January due to financial struggles, was the largest distributor of print books to public libraries around the U.S.

When DCPL was notified of the impending closure late last year, they knew it would leave a giant hole in their system. In fiscal year 2024, 43% of the copies that DCPL ordered were from Baker & Taylor, according to Lunden Gillepsie, DCPL’s Director of Collections. 

“It was very much like, ‘Wow, what are we going to do? How are we still going to get materials to our patrons?’” said Gillepsie. 

While the library works with other book distribution vendors, Baker & Taylor offered a couple unique services. A big one, Gillespie said, was direct shipment to DCPL’s branches. Their second biggest vendor, Ingram Content Group, doesn’t offer this service yet. That means new materials are going to the central branch, where they need to be catalogued and processed before going to their appropriate branches.

Baker & Taylor was also their go-to vendor for new books that were highly requested, which is why patrons like Kirkwood, who opt for new titles, have been particularly impacted. DCPL adds books they’ve ordered to their catalogue, which means patrons can place holds for upcoming titles. But just because a book has been ordered doesn’t mean it’s on the way — and recently, Gillespie said they’ve been hearing from patrons about long hold times.

“We're just communicating, ‘Hey, we put that there to give you an opportunity to be in line,” she said, adding that they can’t guarantee when the book will actually reach the library.

Because more books are having to go through the central branch, DCPL is also experiencing a backlog in moving materials around the library branches. Gillespie said they’re aware some patrons are frustrated, and that the library is hiring more staff to help things move quicker.

“They tell us when we're doing well and when we're not, because the fact of the matter is, they want materials,” said Gillespie of book-hungry D.C. residents. “So they have noticed the longer times in transit.” 

Jess Champagne, a Ward 4 resident, noticed a period where her holds didn’t seem to move for several weeks. Between her and her two children, they were used to getting around 15 books a month prior to the delays. The wait in hold times has particularly impacted one of her kids, who has been racing through two different fantasy series.

But Champagne doesn’t hold it against DCPL. “We're mostly just grateful for the library, and I can't claim any dire harm,” she added. 

The good news, Gillespie said, is that they’re seeing progress in receiving more physical copies from their vendors and fulfilling requests. At one point, the library was a few months behind in receiving new materials. Now, they’re getting titles they ordered in March.

While DCPL doesn’t know for sure when hold times will return to normal, Gillespie said it’s an "utmost priority.” 

“It really just depends on how quickly Ingram can get orders to us, how quickly we can process and receive things, and how quickly we can get it out to customers,” she said. Until then, Gillespie recommends people stop by their local branch and speak with the librarians who can connect people to other available, similar books in the meantime.