distributor . for the beverage and ice manufacturer see follett ice . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . june 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . no cleanup reason has been specified . please help improve this article if you can . july 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message follett corporation is a westchester illinois based company that provides a variety of educational products to schools colleges and public libraries through its subsidiaries . follett corporation type private industry retail college bookseller ebooks library books software founder c.w. follett charles m. barnes john wilcox headquarters westchester il area served international key people ray griffith ceo divisions follett higher education group fheg follett international fint follett school solutions inc. fss subsidiaries tetradata x2 website http www.follett.com contents 1 history 2 operating units 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit follett corporation was founded in 1873 when charles m. barnes 1 opened a used book store in his wheaton illinois home . three years later barnes moved his business now named c.m. barnes & company to chicago where he opened a store at 23 lasalle street . here he sold new and used textbooks stationery and school supplies . 2 charles wolcott follett 1883 1952 joined the company in 1901 as a stock clerk . the following year charles barnes retired and his son william became president . the company had now evolved into a wholesaler selling used books throughout the midwest and as far away as the oklahoma territory . in 1908 the company was reorganized as c.m. barnes wilcox company when john wilcox william barnes father in law became the company s primary shareholder . four years later in 1912 c.w. follett became vice president and a shareholder of the company . in 1917 william barnes sold his remaining interest in the company to john wilcox . later that year barnes moved to new york where he partnered with g. clifford noble and founded barnes & noble . 3 the following year with wilcox nearing retirement c.w. follett took over management of the company and it was once again renamed this time as j.w. wilcox & follett company . john wilcox died in 1923 and the following year c.w. follett and his wife edythe purchased the company . during the next two years c.w. follett s three oldest sons robert duncan bob garth and dwight joined the family business . c.w. s youngest son laddie who was still in grade school joined the company in 1930 . in 1925 dwight founded the follett publishing company . in 1930 r.d. follett founded the follett college book company and began wholesaling used textbooks to professors and college bookstores . the following year r.d. established the company s first retail bookstore on a college campus outside of chicago . and in 1940 garth follett created follett library book company . laddie follett ran the company s original business wilcox & follett from 1952 until 1986 . when c.w. follett died in 1952 at the age of 70 dwight follett succeeded his father as chairman . the company continued to grow and was renamed follett corporation 4 in 1957 which it is still known by today . in the mid 1970s dwight began to prepare for his retirement and dick litzsinger r.d. follett s son in law was elected president and chief executive officer . in 1979 dwight retired and robert j.r. follett was named chairman . in 1994 robert j.r. follett retired and dick traut r.d. s son in law was elected chairman . the following year loyola university named follett illinois family business of the year . dick litzsinger retired as president and chief executive officer in 1997 and ken hull was elected president . ken was the first non family member to be elected president of the corporation . in 1997 follett also restructured its board of directors adding three non family members . that same year it joined internet systems inc. in forming library systems & services l.l.c. a joint venture that provides library management services to public academic and corporate libraries across the country . in addition follett purchased book wholesalers inc. bwi a distributor of children s books to public libraries . in 1998 to strengthen the company s ability to meet the needs of its customers follett aligned its various business units under three market groups higher education elementary and high schools and libraries . dick traut retired as chairman in 1999 and ken hull became chairman and chief executive officer of the corporation . in addition in 1999 follett launched the www.efollett.com 5 web site . in 2000 christopher traut was elected president and chief executive officer of follett corporation . ken hull remained as chairman of follett corporation . in addition follett s three core market groups were combined to form follett higher education group 6 and follett library and school group . 7 8 in april 2001 ken hull retired and mark litzsinger was elected chairman of follett corporation . following a rigorous analysis of the company s portfolio of business units follett merged follett media distribution which provided audio visual products to school and public libraries into bwi in an effort to provide its library customers with one stop shopping for all of their book and media needs . in addition in june 2003 follett sold its interest in library systems & services llc lssi . in 2010 chris traut retired . charles r. chuck follett then took over the company as president and ceo after holding a wide range of leadership roles during his 37 years with the company . that same year follett was ranked 155 in forbes list of largest private companies . 9 in 2011 the follett school and library group was created to serve the k 12 market under one business group . strategic business decisions were made to move the focus of the school and library group into the k 12 classroom and in 2011 certain assets of follett s public library business bwi were sold . in april 2011 alison o hara was named chairman of the board . prior to becoming chairman she served as assistant general counsel of follett and was a member of the company s board of directors for 11 years . under o hara s direction the board underwent another transformation by bringing in outside directors to lead follett into the digital future . o hara died unexpectedly on july 20 2013 from complications of breast cancer . 10 in november 2012 mary lee schneider was elected follett s new president and ceo . 11 schneider is an 11 year veteran on the follett board of directors . schneider came to follett from chicago based rr donnelley where she recently was president digital solutions and chief technology officer . in january 2014 follett corporation announced that the company s board of directors named todd litzsinger chairman of the board . litzsinger succeeds steve waichler who held the role on an interim basis following the passing of follett s former chairman alison o hara in july 2013 . litzsinger joined follett in 1992 and has served on the board since 2003 . he has held a series of increasingly responsible leadership positions with the company most recently president of content solutions and services for follett school solutions the company s prek 12 business . 12 in march 2014 approximately 750 employees from the company s corporate office and higher education businesses at chicago area suburban operations in oak brook westmont and river grove relocated to three westbrook corporate center a 160 000 square foot tower in westchester il . 13 on april 1 2014 follett s prek 12 businesses became one legal entity named follett school solutions inc. 14 the new entity is part of follett s strategy to deliver increased value to customers by integrating and leveraging the content and technology capabilities of its previously separate businesses follett educational services follett library resources and follett software company . 15 16 the company is currently focusing on e commerce 17 18 digital offerings and text rental 19 in addition to its core areas of expertise . today follett is a 2.7 billion privately held company that provides products services and solutions to the educational marketplace . the company which serves more than 5 million students at its more than 1 600 physical and online stores employs approximately 10 000 associates throughout the united states canada and other parts of the world . 20 21 in may 2015 follett corporation appoints ray a. griffith as president and ceo . 22 in june 2015 follett corporation purchased neebo the retail division of the nebraska book company adding more than 200 retail store locations both on and off campus . follett hired neebo s employees as part of the transition . 23 in april 2016 follett corporation acquired baker & taylor llc the leading distributor of books video and music products to libraries institutions and retailers . 24 operating units edit follett higher education group higher education s leading campus retailer and largest wholesaler in the united states and canada providing custom solutions for both local and online campus store operations . follett school solutions inc. provides content technical solutions and customer support to prek 12 libraries classrooms learning centers and school districts . follett international fint provides educational technology and print solutions to over 150 countries . see also edit chicago portal companies portal list of book distributors barnes & noble references edit http www.knox.edu news and events news archive 1856 graduate barnes a publishing pioneer.html ss print http www.follett.com folletthistory.cfm http web.archive.org web 20071001000727 http www.newsday.com about ny ihiny021705story 0 5026610 . htmlstory http www.follett.com http www.efollett.com http www.fheg.follett.com http www.flr.follett.com http www.fes.follett.com http www.forbes.com lists 2010 21 private companies 10 rank.html http articles.chicagotribune.com 2013 08 04 news ct met barasa obit 20130804 1 breast cancer follett corp family business http www.chicagogrid.com people follett ceo education economics mary lee schneider http www.slj.com 2014 02 industry news loc literacy awards new follett chairman harry and hermione news bites http www.inc.com shelley prevost two critical principles in designing a workplace for wellbeing.html http www.follettlearning.com http www.ednetinsight.com news alerts business headlines follett s prek 12 businesses unite as follett school solutions inc . html http www.eschoolnews.com current issue http www.prnewswire.com news releases follett corporation introduces follett virtual bookstores 70534667.html http www.internetatschools.com articles column idea watch idea watch dissecting ebooks and libraries an evolving market 95546 . aspx http usatoday30.usatoday.com news education 2010 08 17 rentingtextbooks17 st n.htm http www.follettinternational.com http bluesky.chicagotribune.com originals chi mary lee schneider follett bsi 20140414 0 0 . story https www.follett.com news articleid 2415 http www.nebook.com wp content uploads 2015 06 final media release tango.pdf follett acquires baker & taylor . follett corporation . retrieved 2016 04 18 . external links edit this article contains embedded lists that may be poorly defined unverified or indiscriminate . please help to clean it up to meet wikipedia s quality standards . where appropriate incorporate items into the main body of the article . march 2012 http www.follett.com official website v t e illinois based corporations fortune 500 corporations by size 2013 walgreens boots alliance archer daniels midland boeing caterpillar inc. state farm insurance abbott laboratories sears holdings united continental holdings deere & company mondel z international allstate mcdonald s exelon kraft heinz illinois tool works baxter international navistar international rr donnelley cdw hillshire brands discover