One of the largest paperback book printing plants in the world reached its final chapter this past May. Located in Dallas, Pennsylvania in the northeastern end of the Commonwealth, my former employer, Offset Paperback Manufacturing (OPM), ceased operations that began in 1972.

Production tumbled from 149 million books in 2017 to an estimated 53 million in 2024.  Offset Paperback Manufacturing’s production was dwarfed only by the former Arcata Graphics in Depew, New York. Senior executives at Bertelsmann Printing Group USA, parent company of OPM, cited a rapid decline in Mass-Market and Digest books over the last six years.  They anticipate that trend with continue.  E-books and print-on-demand (POD) printing have taken a toll on the traditional offset printing industry.

Offset Paperback Manufacturing’s facility is somewhat of an anomaly as it is a manufacturing facility nestled in a largely residential area. Dallas, Pennsylvania is considered the “Back Mountain,” or an outlying suburb of Wilkes-Barre, PA.  Wilkes-Barre bears the moniker of the “Diamond City” because of its proximity to the world’s largest underground coal field during the anthracite coal era at the turn of the 20^th century.

In my halcyon days, I worked as a summer intern in an otherwise unionized work force at OPM.  Double shifts were plentiful.

On an interesting note, in January 2002, the baler room was the origin of two fires, in the same week, that required multiple fire departments to extinguish.  The baler room was a central repository for the plant’s paper waste, from trimming paperback covers and books, to flawed paperbacks themselves.  The baler room was fed manually, and through pneumatic tubes, from multiple production line trimmers.

The room required use of full face organic vapor respirators because of the hazardous, choking dust that was generated.  Trimmings from tens of thousands of books daily were compressed into rectangular cuboid bales roughly 4’ x 4’ x 6’ in length for recycling.  Before recycling, the never-ending paper waste bales were incinerated, and used to heat the plant.

For years, the plant would run three shifts – 24/7.  I grimaced as the Kindle and Nook initially nibbled at production.  They were foreboding harbingers for the offset printing  industry.  I believe the industry underestimated the much bigger threat of Print on Demand printing.

Notably, OPM printed the 1998 Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and a five-year suspension of his law license.  That made great fodder for conversation as shift workers gulped vending machine coffee in the antiquated breakroom.  It was always a big deal, yet not uncommon, for Offset Paperback to handle million-copy book runs. For months, I recall seeing the bestseller, Yeager, rolling off the production lines.  Yeager was an autobiography  of America’s greatest test pilot, the first to break the sound barrier.  My oldest brother spent 30+ years at the Dallas plant, often wryly telling me, “I’m putting a shift in at the mill.”

In my day, there were four lines in the bindery where books came to life.  Line five was commissioned, and featured advanced automated boxing or packaging of paperback books.  It was very high speed and intimidating, eliminating the necessity of two people to manually grasp and pack paperbacks rolling off the production line.  At the end of a shift packing books, my hands were often raw and tender from the molten glue that fastened the paperbacks along their spines.  I can still smell the odoriferous scent of pulp and ink, which permeated the plant and my clothes.

Offset printing is a technique which transfers (“offsets”) an inked image from a plate to a rubber roller or blanket, and then rolls the ink onto a printing surface or substrate.  Neither print on demand nor digital printing uses plates to transfer ink to paper.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both processes.  A notable distinction lies in cover production.  Offset printing allows for embossing and raised letters.

A Teamster’s statement that people “aren’t buying paperback books anymore” doesn’t jive with actual unit sales of printed books in the U.S.  Sales of printed books have steadily increased since 2019 (697M) and 2020 (757M). They then leapt in 2021 (838M), and hit a healthy 767M units in 2023. Oddly, a management level employee remarked to an ABC affiliate that “[w]e’re not going back to smearing ink on crushed trees anymore; we are going to continue with the digital age.”  Ignoring the surge in print on demand printing, he appeared to place the plant’s woes squarely on Kindles and smartphones. Yes, print on demand is a digital process – but the end product is physical – ink and pulp included.

As of June 2023, Statista reported paperback market shares of 38.8% and hardbacks at 30.2%.  Percentages vary on the audio and e-book book formats.  I have found market share hovers around 9% for audio  and 18% for e-books.  Some sources report the two formats on parity with one another.

It is sobering to look at a massive, vacant plant near the center of town.  Bertelsmann scraped its corporate logo from the formidable water tower, and simply left town.  Operations at the Dallas OPM plant have been shifted to its Bertelsmann Printing Group’s facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

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JAMES M. WALSH, ESQ., is a former Navy JAGC officer and a recipient of the American Bar Association’s coveted LAMP Award for excellence in military legal assistance practice. A rolling stone, J.M. has globetrotted most of his adult life. After the military, J.M. pursued commercial real estate development, leasing, and asset management. He resides in Catania, Sicily. He spent almost twenty years in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Luzerne, Erie & Lackawanna Counties. His handiwork as an editor and author is interspersed throughout this novel. Leo A. Murray fondly refers to J.M. as his collaborative, literary ‘Coach’ or ‘Lieutenant.’ Agnes claims that he has gypsy in his heart and rabbit in his feet.

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MAXIMUM IMPACT, a Novel, is finally available on Amazon.

EXCERPT (from Chapter 46):

Detective Jason Garcia was holed up in The Bellevue Hotel, a historical landmark on Broad Street and a popular Center City destination.  He had been there for several days.  Bleary eyed and beyond intoxicated, he had just finished watching the evening news and the joint press conference.  He was in a world of hurt.  Disheveled, he had put in a full day at the famous XIX lounge, on the 19^th floor.  He ingested more than his share of innovative craft cocktails and a little too much blow.  Along with a razor blade, a fractured line of white powder was on the suite’s desk, his lapel, and under his nose.  He hadn’t shaved in a several days. He bore a striking resemblance to Tony Montana in Scarface when his kingdom collapsed.

Garcia was on the floor, slumped against a full-length mirror just outside an opulent bathroom that was equipped with an outdoor balcony and Jacuzzi.  He unholstered his service weapon, a Glock Model 27, .40 Caliber, semi-automatic pistol that he carried in accordance with PPD Directive 10.6.  He withdrew his PPD Badge and gazed at it for a tearful and somber moment.  He was mentally bent and twisted beyond salvation.  In one fell swoop, Garcia chambered a round and fired it into his mouth.  His brain stem and the back of his skull exploded.  Jason Garcia was no more.  His carcass slumped forward like a discarded marionette revealing that a large section of the back of his head was gone.  The mirror simultaneously shattered, but a large triangular section remained intact and affixed to the wall.  It resembled a red Rorschach test – a tactile Rorschach test – as the splatter was accentuated by bone fragments and brain matter.  The hallway was immediately filled with frantic guests who heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot that emanated from the Stanley Suite, Room 237.

Atop the freshly made bed was a $2,600.00 Prada duffle bag made of Re-nylon and premium Saffiano leather.  Garcia acquired the bag at Fratelli Prada (Prada Brothers), a destination Italian purveyor of aristocratic and aesthetically pleasing leather goods.  The designer luggage was stuffed with cash and five hundred grams of cocaine.  Next to the duffel bag was a cache of weapons, including Zach’s, which could be traced back to the Philadelphia PD’s evidence locker.

The message light on the phone began to blink intermittently as a call from the front desk had gone unanswered.  Detective Garcia was busy meeting his Maker…

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