Layoffs at book company as schools shift towards digital reading

Perma-Bound books let go of 23 employees this week. Company president Jim Orr says about the same number of people were furloughed last year. He says some of this week’s layoffs were people who were brought back.

Perma-Bound employs about 280 people.

The company focuses on public and school library reading materials and school curriculum texts. Orr says part of the reason for the layoffs is due to the economy, but he notes that school districts aren’t ordering as much material as they used to.