Baker & Taylor announced that it has acquired Libros Sin Fronteras, a bilingual company dedicated to the distribution of important, hard-to-find, Latin American and other high quality Spanish language materials.

Richard Willis, Chairman, President and CEO of Baker & Taylor, said, "We recognize that identifying and providing true Spanish language material is crucial to the numerous markets Baker & Taylor serves. Libros Sin Fronteras is a leader in securing and offering customers a wide-range of titles to satisfy the needs of diverse Spanish-speaking communities. Going forward, all Baker & Taylor Spanish language initiatives will be under the Libros Sin Fronteras name. Through Baker & Taylor, the importance of Libros Sin Fronteras will become even greater in the marketplace."

"Libros Sin Fronteras' complete understanding of the market, in addition to their strong relationships with key Spanish material producing vendors, will allow Baker & Taylor to better provide needed products and services to our customers," noted George Coe, President Institutional Markets at Baker & Taylor. "Libros Sin Fronteras' experience and knowledge, combined with our wide array of services and vast breadth and depth of inventory, will allow Baker & Taylor to achieve our goal of becoming the leader in Spanish product distribution."

Former Libros Sin Fronteras owner Michael Shapiro will relocate from Olympia, WA to Baker & Taylor's Bridgewater, NJ office and become Baker & Taylor's Vice President, Spanish Language Materials. "We are excited about the advantages that this combining of forces will bring to libraries and the retail market -- better selection of Spanish language materials, expedited delivery, improved fill rates, and new annotated Spanish selection guides," said Shapiro. "In addition," added Shapiro "we will benefit greatly from the established Baker & Taylor library services such as continuations, approval plans, standing orders, and Customized Library Services, as well as the many retail services. I look forward to continuing my work evaluating and selecting top-quality, Latin American Spanish language materials for school, public and academic librarians and retailers working closely with them to keep their Spanish materials relevant and up-to-date."

The two companies will debut their collaborative Spanish collection development services to U.S. librarians attending the Guadalajara International Book Fair November 27-December 5.

About Baker & Taylor, Inc.
Baker & Taylor, Inc. (www.btol.com) is a global information and entertainment services company that offers books, videos, music, games and services to libraries, educational institutions, retailers, and Internet retailers. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the company has been in existence for over 176 years, developing long-term relationships with major suppliers, including book publishers, movie studios, and music labels. Baker & Taylor maintains one of the largest combined in-stock book, video and music inventories in the United States, and services the broadest customer base in the industry.

Baker & Taylor is majority owned by Willis Stein & Partners, a leading private equity investment firm specializing in investments in profitable, well-managed, and growing businesses targeting the consumer products and services, media, business services, manufacturing, and health care industries.