The Ohio attorney general's office is conducting its own investigation into charges that Baker & Taylor, one of the nation's largest book wholesalers, overcharged Ohio libraries by more than $3 million between 1989 and 1994.
According to the January 6 Cleveland Plain Dealer,Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery notified Ohio public libraries last October that she intended to sue the company, and about 20 library systems have agreed to join such a lawsuit. Others are expected to follow, after their boards meet this month.
Montgomery decided Ohio would not join in the suit filed against B&T in 1995 and made public in 1997. As many as 25 other states are now attempting to join the suit, which alleges that the company overcharged libraries, universities, and schools by as much as $200 million.
Posted January 11, 1999.