The news this week that Baker & Taylor will cease serving the retail bookselling market has many SIBA members scrambling to adjust. Everyone at SIBA has been discussing what the organization can do to help its members make the transition away from relying on Baker & Taylor as a supplier and service provider.

Most immediately, stores who run SIBA's "Circle of Sites" banner and use "My Books and More" for online orders face some pressing repercussions from Baker & Taylor's decision. "Circle of Sites," also known as the "Banner for Dues" program, requires participating stores to have an ecommerce platform compatible with the program.

SIBA recognizes that choosing and implementing a new ecommerce solution is big decision that doesn't happen overnight. Here is what we will be doing to help:

1. When My Books and More is discontinued on June 30, SIBA will convert the banner running on all stores using that platform to be "nonclickable" so that visitors to your site are not taken to any error pages by accident. You will not have to make any changes to your site or banner code.
   
   
2. Store memberships will remain active until the end of the year, in order to give everyone time to implement a new e-commerce platform on their websites. As new e-commerce systems are adopted, SIBA will be on call to help stores re-activate their banners. At the end of the year, stores that haven't converted to a new e-commerce system will be removed from the program and the banner taken down from their site. (Stores can still earn their dues by participating in the B3! Bookseller Engagement Program).
   
   
3. Over the next couple months, SIBA will do everything it can to help stores find the resources they need to choose a new e-commerce option. Stores can also post questions to SIBA's "Watercooler" group (sibamembers@googlegroups.com). Questions about websites and compatibility with SIBA programs can be addressed to nicki@sibaweb.com
   
   

The American Booksellers Association has responded to the announcement from Baker & Taylor with a special introductory offer for stores to sign up to their IndieLite program. Anyone interested should contact the IndieCommerce team at staff@bookweb.org. The ABA is a natural partner for bookstores and IndieCommerce is tailored to indie bookseller needs.

Here is a list of booksellers who are familiar with some of the popular e-commerce systems and are willing to answer questions:

Ask a Bookseller! E-Commerce Platform Users

System	Contact
more info	Chris Fanning | A Cappella Books chris@acappellabooks.com | store website
more info	Jill Hendrix | Fiction Addiction info@fictionaddiction.com | store website
more info	Donna Paz | Story and Song Bookstore dpaz@pazbookbiz.com | store website
more info	Dave Lucey | Page 158 Books dave@page158books.com | store website
more info	Booksellers Using Square Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1097407303731307/
more info	Josh Niesse | Hills and Hamlets josh@hillsandhamlets.com | store website