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The Appeal of Romantasy, and Other Library Resources

Here are all the latest library links worth clicking, including the appeal of romantasy and the supposed disappearance of literary men.

Katie McLain Horner Jan 7, 2025

Katie McLain Horner

Contributing Editor

Katie's parents never told her "no" when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois and works full time as a Circulation & Reference Manager in Illinois. She has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying and takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers. When she's not at work, she's at home watching the Cubs with her cats and her cardigan collection. Other hobbies include scrapbooking, introducing more readers to the Church of Tana French, and convincing her husband that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves. Twitter: @kt_librarylady

View All posts by Katie McLain Horner

It’s the first big post of the new year, so let’s look at what we missed in December, and what we can expect for libraries and publishing in 2025.

Library News

Bethlehem (NY) voters rejected a renovation plan for the library that would have cost $36.9 million.

“Library advocates are calling for more attention on South Dakota’s upcoming budget after Gov. Kristi Noem’s recommended budget included cuts to the State Library.”

Three rural library branches east of Ottawa will close temporarily due to budget cuts and staff and board resignations.

An innovative study by UPenn and NYPL finds that public libraries positively impact community health and well-being.

Publishing News

After word got out that Costco was planning to only sell books during the last three months of the year in 2025, it looks like Costco will continue with a year-round sales model for 100 of its over 600 locations. The rest of the locations will revert to the “holiday season” model.

America’s favorite side hustle is…republishing classic literature?

HarperCollins is starting a new imprint that focuses on pop culture.

Harvard is releasing a massive free AI-training dataset funded by OpenAI and Microsoft that consists entirely of public domain works.

Business author Seth Godin says that AI is accelerating the decline of publishing.

New & Upcoming Titles

Publishers Weekly has their spring 2025 preview for adult titles.

Most anticipated winter releases from AARP, Autostraddle, Bustle, and Epic Reads (debut YA authors).

2025 mysteries to get excited about.

RA & Genre Resources

Surrealism, cafés, and lots (and lots) of cats: why Japanese fiction is booming.

Readalikes for fans of Ann Patchett.

A guide to all of the Wicked books.

The appeal of romantasy…or as the headline says, “Of course the girls are reading horny fairy books. It’s cheaper than travel and more fun than therapy.”