After Years of Financial Stress, Baker & Taylor Collapses
In a sudden end to what many saw as a slow-moving inevitability, the nearly 200 year-old company is ceasing operations after a foreclosure sale to ReaderLink fell through.| Words & Money
News and analysis that illuminates the central role of libraries and librarians in the publishing enterprise.| Words & Money
Thank you for supporting Words & Money, an independent media venture that aims to properly center libraries in the 21st century reading, writing, and publishing enterprises. If you're already a subscriber, we thank you for your support. And we encourage you to please share this newsletter with your| Words & Money
Among the week's headlines: the publishing world gathers for the Frankfurt Book Fair; North Dakota librarians look to move past right wing political attacks; more on the fallout from Baker & Taylor's collapse; and a program to preserve censored National Park signage goes live.| Words & Money
Caldwell-Stone's departure was part of a broader wave of job cuts announced this week as the ALA grapples with a financial shortfall and moves ahead with a recently adopted plan to modernize the association.| Words & Money
Thank you for supporting Words & Money, an independent media venture that aims to properly center libraries in the 21st century reading, writing, and publishing enterprises. If you're already a subscriber, we thank you for your support. And we encourage you to please share this newsletter with your| Words & Money
ACLU reps say a newly enacted regulation has “sown chaos and confusion among school employees,” and prompted “a culture of fear among school librarians.”| Words & Money
Among the week's headlines: Penguin Random House hosts a powerful gathering of freedom to read advocates; a wrongly fired Wyoming library director wins a settlement; 'And Tango Makes Three' authors appeal their loss in a Florida courtroom; and ALA announces a new, virtual winter event.| Words & Money
In a sudden end to what many saw as a slow-moving inevitability, the nearly 200 year-old company is ceasing operations after a foreclosure sale to ReaderLink fell through.| Words & Money
The deal looms as a potential milestone in the development of AI. But with tensions running hot between authors and the tech industry, lawyers say that getting a final deal approved may prove challenging.| Words & Money
Thank you for supporting Words & Money, an independent media venture that aims to properly center libraries in the 21st century reading, writing, and publishing enterprises. If you're already a subscriber, we thank you for your support. And we encourage you to please share this newsletter with your| Words & Money
TIME Magazine honors freedom to read advocate Amanda Jones; The federal government shut down this week, but not before the FCC killed two popular WiFi programs; ReaderLink's acquisition of Baker & Taylor has been called off; and Reading Rainbow returns with a new host, Mychal Threets.| Words & Money
“For many students, families, educators, librarians, and school districts, book banning is a new normal,” the report, 'Banned in the USA 2024-2025: The Normalization of Book Banning,' concludes.| Words & Money
Ahead of Banned Books Week 2025, we caught up with the award-winning author and co-founder of We Are Stronger Than Censorship to talk about why advocates must continue to find innovative ways to fight back against the ongoing, pernicious right wing attack on the freedom to read.| Words & Money
In an 18-page ruling, judge Allen Winsor stopped short of finding that library book selection is government speech, but agreed that Escambia County officials have unfettered power to ban books they disagree with.| Words & Money
Thank you for supporting Words & Money, an independent media venture that aims to properly center libraries in the 21st century reading, writing, and publishing enterprises. If you're already a subscriber, we thank you for your support. And we encourage you to please share this newsletter with your| Words & Money
Among the week's headlines: incoming ALA executive director Dan Montgomery sits for an interview; the Trump FCC is set to kill two popular WiFi programs; the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is hosting a literacy summit; and ALA announces George Takei as honorary chair of Banned Books Week.| Words & Money
While there may yet be issues to work out as the claims process begins, authors and industry groups are applauding the deal.| Words & Money
After a recent appeals court decision, Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter is back at work. But in a head-spinning September 22 motion for summary judgment, DOJ lawyers insist that, one way or another, her purported firing was legal.| Words & Money
“The Connecticut bill essentially restores the right to negotiate, so libraries aren’t forced into take-it-or-leave-it digital deals," said Ellen Paul, executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium.| Words & Money
The settlement appears to be the last gasp of a contentious, years-long copyright battle that began with a lawsuit over book scanning in the early days of the pandemic.| Words & Money
The move comes after a narrow July 30 order in which federal judge Timothy Kelly held that Perlmutter had failed to show that her firing was causing her "irreparable harm."| Words & Money
Shira Perlmutter failed to show that "the existence of the Copyright Office is at stake, or that her position will likely be irreparably changed without an injunction," judge Timothy Kelly held in a July 30 order denying a motion to block her May 10 firing.| Words & Money
Calling her firing "blatantly illegal," former Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter is now seeking to expedite a summary judgment, over the objections of Trump administration lawyers.| Words & Money
In a 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court ruled that judge Timothy Kelly erred in denying Shira Perlmutter’s bid for a preliminary injunction, and enjoined Trump administration officials from interfering with her service as Register of Copyrights, pending a further order of the court.| Words & Money
Debut author Sam Sussman reflects on his deep love of libraries.| Words & Money
At a September 8 hearing, judge William Alsup said the settlement agreement was “nowhere close to complete” and ordered the parties to cure several deficiencies by September 22.| Words & Money
If the settlement is approved, an undisclosed number of authors of some 500,000 pirated works will receive roughly $3,000 per work, making the settlement potentially the largest copyright award in history.| Words & Money
The decision is a major blow to Shira Perlmutter's bid for a swift reinstatement and leaves the leadership of the Copyright Office in limbo.| Words & Money
In an August 12 letter, Trump officials announced a plan to review the venerable institution’s “museums and exhibitions” to ensure “alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism."| Words & Money
If passed, the New Jersey bill would sound beyond the Garden State, satisfying the so-called “trigger clause” in the recently passed library ebook bill in Connecticut.| Words & Money
