From 1977 to 1989, poet Jean Day was Acquisitions Manager, then Executive Director, of SPD, developing close associations with many San Francisco Bay Area writers and publishers, including Lyn Hejinian, Bob Perelman, Steve Benson, Johanna Drucker, Barrett Watten, Alan Bernheimer, Kit Robinson, Tom Mandel, and Laura Moriarty.
[7] A month later, SPD announced on social media and its website that it was shutting down effective immediately, citing: ...the challenges of a rapidly changing book industry and funding environment.
The tireless efforts of a world-class staff to raise new funds, find new sales channels for our presses, and exit our expensive Berkeley warehouse couldn’t compensate for these losses.
[10] According to SPD's board president, "the company’s dissolution is being overseen by the Superior Court of California, which will decide how to distribute any of S.P.D.’s remaining assets to creditors.
"[5] In December 2020, SPD came under fire after a former employee posted an anonymous article on Medium[11] with allegations of wage theft and discrimination based on race and gender,[12] leading to an open letter calling for the resignation of executive director Brent Cunningham.
In late March 2024, when Small Press Distribution closed, many publishers publicly stated that SPD hadn't provide them owed money from previous payment periods.