News & Notes – 1/31/2026

January 31, 2026 Lark_Bookwyrm News & Notes 1

News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff.

NOTE on paywalls: Publisher’s Weekly and The Guardian may require you to sign up for a free account in order to read their content. Both The New York Times and the Washington Post have paywalls, but allow a small number of free articles per month.

Bookish News

American Library Association announces 2026 Youth Media Award winners, including the Newbery, Caldecott, Prinz, and King awards. The Newbery this year goes to Renée Watson for All the Blues in the Sky. The Caldecott winner for most distinguished picture book is Cátia Chien for Fireworks (written by Matthew Burgess.)
Twin Cities Bookstores Contend With ICE (Publishers Weekly) Side note: I have been to Moon Palace, the bookstore pictured at the top of this article, as well as Uncle Hugo’s and Uncle Edgar’s, a nearby bookshop that sells sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery (mostly used.) Both owners were interviewed for the article.
Industry Auction to Support Minnesota, Immigrants. Publishing for Minnesota, “a group of industry insiders,” has put together an online auction to be held on January 29–30. (Publishers Weekly)
Publishers Seek to Join Class Action Against Google (Publishers Weekly)
We Need Diverse Books launches Unbanned Book Network to fight school bans (AP)
Powell’s Books [in Oregon] cut 20% of its staff in a year. Here’s what’s next for one of the most well-known independent bookstores in the country. (KOIN)
Trump Administration Continues Threatening IMLS (Publishers Weekly)
Defendants in Colorado Book Removal Case Abandon Appeal, in a win for freedom-to-read activists. (Publishers Weekly)
Tor Publishing Group Announces Commercial Fiction Imprint covering multiple genres. (Publishers Weekly) If the term is new to you, The Novelry defines it thusly: “commercial fiction—also referred to as mainstream fiction, and often as genre fiction—is fiction that has a wide readership, and therefore, has the potential to sell a lot of copies. These books are likely to be plot-driven and be a real page-turner for readers.”
[Mystery author] Val McDermid was assigned ‘sensitivity reader’ to cut offensive language from old books (The Guardian)

Worth Reading/Viewing

Text is king. Adam Mastroianni argues that the “death of reading” claims are greatly exaggerated. Reading has persisted through radio, TV, and social media, he argues, and the primacy of text will continue on well into the future. (“Experimental History” substack)
A Short Comment About Generative AI (Smart Bitches Trashy Books blog) When Sarah of SBTB discovered that the cover of a book the bloggers had liked and featured contained elements generated by AI, she made the decision to remove the buy links and indicate that the cover was made with AI. This article explains SBTB’s AI policy and the reasons behind it. Since books with covers and even content generated by AI are becoming more common, SBTB’s thoughtful and principled policy is worth reading.
Computers can’t surprise: “As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer” (Richard Beard, Aeon).
Art could save your life! Five creative ways to make 2026 happier, healthier and more hopeful (The Guardian)