318 Laid Off as Illinois Publisher Announces Shutdown

It's been confirmed by multiple sources that a publishing company in Illinois will be closing imminently which is resulting in more than 300 workers losing their jobs.

A new WARN notice submitted to the state of Illinois revealed the closure of a publishing company in Illinois

It states that Baker & Taylor LLC located at 501 Gladiolus Street in Momence, Illinois will be shutting down operations and be completely closed by January of 2026. However, it appears that 318 workers have already been given their walking papers according to the WARN notice details on the Illinois Work Net Center site. The reason given was "plant closure" and this has been confirmed by Publishers Weekly which says the company had a town hall earlier this week saying they did not see "a sustainable path to keep the library wholesaler in business". Their report states that an even larger number of workers were let go saying 520 had lost their jobs with a limited number to remain until the business closes permanently. A conversation thread on Reddit shows comments from former employees who were apparently a part of this mass layoff.

Baker & Taylor Update
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The Illinois Work Net Center site says this new round of layoffs brings the number in the state who have lost jobs in the past 30 days to 1,151 with more than 16,000 losing jobs so far in 2025.