How cuts to library budgets will impact publishers
Aug 08 2025
The ocean contains a complex ecosystem that starts with the small but mighty plankton at the skin of the sea. Krill eat the plankton, then small fish eat the krill. Larger fish, like tuna, eat the smaller fish, then themselves are swallowed up by sharks. The health of the plankton has everything to do with the shark keeping on swimming, even if the shark never tastes the plankton itself.
Though it may seem odd, Kensington Publishing’s communications director, Vida Engstrand, finds the metaphor is an apt one for describing the book business’s own ecosystem. She likens public libraries to the plankton, and major publishing houses with star authors on their rosters to the shark.
This spring, the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency made wide-ranging cuts to federal institutions, resulting in a funding freeze at the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the agency responsible for distributing federal funding to public libraries and museums.