An employment backbone in Momence since July 1962 is permanently closing its doors, and 318 workers will be out of work.

Baker & Taylor, a book publishing company on the city’s southwest side, made the announcement to its workers on Monday.

Momence Mayor Chuck Steele said this was a company-wide move and had nothing to do with the quality of work being done in Momence.

“This is a pretty big hit. This is a pretty hard hit on Momence,” Steele said Monday afternoon.

Of the 318 employees, 253 are being let go, effective Oct. 6. An additional 62 will work until Dec. 22, and a “post-wind down” group of three employees will be separated on Jan. 3.

None of these employees belongs to a workers’ union.

Baker & Taylor had been working on a sale to a company, ReaderLink, but that deal fell apart last week.

ReaderLink is a major book distributor that primarily serves mass market retailers, while Baker & Taylor has historically been a major distributor for libraries and schools.

ReaderLink had entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire the business and substantially all of Baker & Taylor’s assets. However, the deal never reached the finish line.

ReaderLink describes itself as the largest full-service distributor of hardcover, trade and paperback books to non-trade channel booksellers in North America, services such retailers at Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target and BJ’s Wholesale Club as well as Hudson News.

Baker & Taylor owner and CEO, Aman Kochar, said he had hoped that after the ReaderLink deal was called off, he would find another way forward for the company.

Instead, he said in a report, he did not see a path to keep the library wholesaler in business.

Latest hit to Momence

This news is the latest in a string of plant closures in Momence.

Since 2023, Momence, a city of about 3,000, has lost nearly 800 primary jobs.

The city lost the sausage production plant, Johnsonville Foods, in June, eliminating 274 jobs, and a fire at the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. chocolate plant cost the city another 80 jobs.

In April 2023, the furnace filter plant, AAF Flanders, 11360 E. Illinois Route 114, closed, taking 112 jobs with it.

Steele said the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, often referred to as the WARN report, said the Baker & Taylor plant, located at 501 Gladiolus St., came out Monday.

According to the report:

“The closure of its facilities has resulted from the unforeseen termination of a sale transaction which was intended to convey Baker & Taylor’s assets and operations to a purchaser, and which would have resulted in the continuing employment of all Baker & Taylor employees.”

The report noted the purchaser withdrew from the transaction and rescinded offers to employ Baker & Taylor employees on Sept. 26.

“Despite Baker & Taylor’s subsequent efforts, it was unsuccessful in seeking a path to continue its business operations,” according to the report.

The report was authored by Hannah Corell, Baker & Taylor’s senior director of people operations.

Baker & Taylor, based in Charlotte, N.C., is the largest supplier of library content, software and services in the United States. The company provides service to more than 6,000 libraries.

Starting with a workforce of 29, the company finished 1962 with 150 employees. While the number of employees has fluctuated over the years, the mission has always been the same.

Baker & Taylor provides books from publishers to schools and libraries. The company ships books, DVDs and music, and it supplies technology solutions that allow lending institutions to streamline workflow and improve efficiency.

With an original footprint of 120,000 square feet, the plant at Illinois Route 114 had been expanded five times, the latest being in 1999. It now is 379,000 square feet.

While the company has remained a Momence fixture since 1962, it has gone through change. The company began in 1828 in Hartford, Conn., by David Robinson and B.B. Barber as a bookbinder and subscription book publisher; the company relocated to New York City in 1835.

In 1885, it was acquired by James Baker and Nelson Taylor, thus becoming Baker & Taylor. By 1912, the company closed the publishing portion of its business and focused on wholesale distribution in the bookstore and library market.

The company has been through several acquisitions, the latest being in November 2021, when the private investment group led by Kochar purchased the company from Follett Corp.

Follett had owned the company since April 2016.