6 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY FEBRUARY 2, 2026 Currents
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THE WEEK IN PUBLISHING 1/24 – 1/30/26
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NYPL EXPANDS INSTANT ACCESS
The New York Public Library announced last week that it would provide limited- time immediate access to digital copies of more than 100 titles in its collection, through February 14. Library card holders were quick to make the most of the offer, notably for e-book and audiobook editions of the ice hockey romance Heated Rivalry , as well as the other five novels in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series. After mayor Zohran Mamdani urged New Yorkers to stay home during a historic winter storm and “take advantage of our public library’s offer of free access to Heated Rivalry ,” NYPL spokes- woman Lizzie Tribone said downloads of the book rose by more than 500%. The NYPL’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture also announced that cardholders were granted access to e-book and audio- book editions of 100 books by Black authors, curated by the center for its centennial and Black History Month, through February 28. The Schomburg Center’s 100 Black Voices list includes books by Maya Angelou, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Franz Fanon, and Toni Morrison. — EVA BARON
Greg Ketter of DreamHaven Books and Comics in Minneapolis walks through clouds of tear gas on January 24, near where Alex Pretti was killed by ICE agents. INDUSTRY RALLIES BEHIND
ITH VIOLENCE AND PROTESTS roil- ing Minneapolis amid the ongoing ICE crackdown in the city, support from publishing professionals and book lovers alike poured in over the past week. On January 29, a two-day online auction organized by the group Publishing for Minnesota went live to raise funds for nonprofits provid- ing aid to Minnesotans, as well as to immigrants nationwide. The group was founded by Mabel Hsu and Zoey Cole of Sourcebooks and Zando, respectively, who are joined by Ben Rosenthal, also of Sourcebooks; Scholastic’s Katie Heit; and author- illustrator Laura Sandoval Herrera. At press time the auction had MINNEAPOLIS w nearly met its $115,000 goal and included more than 550 items and services donated by authors, editors,
agents, and illustrators, including Little, Brown Books for Young Readers editor-in-chief Alvina Ling; Henry Holt editor Anna Montague; Massie McQuilkin & Altman agent Michael Taeckens; and PBS resident librarian Mychal Threets. DreamHaven Books and Comics received an influx of orders and a $5,000 donation via a long- dormant GoFundMe campaign after images of store owner Greg Ketter braving tear gas and cursing ICE agents circulated on social media. (Ketter said the donation funds will go to local food pantries.) According to Ketter, DreamHaven’s sales are 10 times that of a typical January. “We’re trying to keep up,” he added. He’s not the only one. Victoria Ford, owner of Comma: A Bookshop, also made waves after post- ing about her store’s anti-ICE efforts, such as mutual aid fundraising and distributing whistles. “That gave us national attention,” Ford said. “Since then, we’ve been shipping hundreds of orders from around the country.” —CK
FRANKFURT FINDS NEW FAIR DIRECTOR Joachim Kaufmann, the longtime head of German publisher Carlsen Verlag, has been appointed as the next president and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Kaufmann will take over after this year’s fair and succeeds Juergen Boos, who has held the role since 2005. In his two-decade tenure as CEO of Carlsen Verlag, the Hamburg-based subsidiary of the Swedish Bonnier Group, Kaufmann helped to grow the house into one of Germany’s largest trade publishers and was responsible for Bonnier’s expansion into new markets, including Poland and China. “Few leaders in our world of books are as capable as he is of inspiring people with his ideas and convictions,” Boos said of Kaufmann, in a statement. “He and the strong culture of collaboration within the Frankfurter Buchmesse team are an ideal match.” — EN
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