Books at a Chicago distribution center courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

Books displayed at Books & Company, 1039 Summit Ave., Oconomowoc.

Books at a Chicago distribution center courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

Books displayed at Books & Company, 1039 Summit Ave., Oconomowoc.

WAUKESHA — News of book delays due to supply-chain impacts has been spreading, and local libraries, bookstores and publishers are also feeling the effects in Southeastern Wisconsin.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the supply chain in many ways, and one thing has become clear — no industry seems to be untouched. One such industry that has been making headlines more recently is the publishing industry.

The Wisconsin Historical Society Press, Wisconsin’s oldest book publisher, told The Freeman they’ve been facing challenges for some time now.

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Elizabeth Boone, business and operations manager for the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, said she recently attended a virtual meeting by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association addressing issues printers are seeing, attended other panel meetings and discussed the issues with people in the industry.

“It’s just every single point along the supply chain there is an issue of some sort when it comes to printing and book publishing these days,” Boone said. “We started to kind of get an inkling that there were capacity issues with our printers back in the spring.”

Boone said the delays are related to material availability as well as labor shortages. Paper is the biggest thing, she said, but it’s also things like book binding glue, cardboard for hardback books, pallets for transporting the books and more.

In the past, Boone said it would typically take two months to contact printers and receive the books. Now they must contact printers about six months in advance.

Despite this, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press is still getting books on time with advanced planning. Distributors warn they can do it in time, but often warn there could be material delays.

“We have always printed (in the U.S.) and in the past, in Wisconsin, (and) we’re fortunate (this is) the place that we live,” she said, due to the lumber and paper mill industry in the state.

However, many printers have moved overseas, specifically in China, for color printing, a problem which has been building up for years, Boone said. Printing domestically speeds the supply- chain process up.

“The good news is that the publishing industry has experienced a bit of a resurgence and interest because of the pandemic, so our sales are up and that’s something that everyone is really trying to hold on to and just look for the silver lining as best we can,” Boone said.

Steve Thiry, West Bend Community Memorial Library director, said publishers have also been all over the board with arrival dates. Thiry said this applies to reprints as well as new books.

“We don’t know if we’re going to get those books this year or next year,” he said. “(That) has been a challenge for libraries all across the state.”

Some books are being published faster digitally than by printing. There are some opportunities for library members to access the digital content quicker.

“We are seeing a lot of use by communities across the board,” Thiry said. “I know our circulation has (seen) a significant increase in use at our library ... we’re about to surpass what we had for total circulation last year, and we still have two months to go here.”

Local bookstores and libraries are also looking at that silver lining, despite experiencing similar problems.

At Books & Company, 1039 Summit Ave. in Oconomowoc, co-owner Lisa Baudoin said she cannot give specific book titles, but there are books they cannot get right now. Baudoin said she is ordering early and already has a large stock in storage.

“(For books) that we know are big, we’re placing large initial orders so that we have them to last through the season,” she said. “We do anticipate running out of stuff — but here’s the thing — we have no idea what that stuff is.”

Baudoin said if someone is set on one book that they are unable to get, employees are always willing to make recommendations for other books. Now is also the time to support local, she said.

“Stories (can) provide comfort, they can provide laughter, they help us sort of comprehend and understand what is happening in the world, they grow our compassion — I think books are such a good gift,” Baudoin said.

DIGITAL: JUST $10 PER MONTH PRINT+DIGITAL: AS LOW AS $21 PER MONTH