The Bookseller - News - Predictions: what lies ahead for the book trade in 2025?

As I see it, there are two urgent priorities in 2025, which are fundamental to the future of our industry and we must work together to navigate and tackle them.

First, AI will continue to develop at breakneck speed with the necessary regulation lagging behind. We will continue to work closely with the Publishers Association to ensure that the intellectual property of our authors is vigorously defended. We are disappointed and concerned by the Government's proposal for a copyright exception for data mining for AI use and see this as a significant risk.

Second, while online communities such as BookTok continue to drive demand, we were served a stark reminder of the decline of reading for pleasure among children with the National Literacy TrustUK-based organisation which has campaigned since 1993 to improve literacy standards across all age groups. Excellent research information and details of the many initiatives the charity is currently involved in. www.literacytrust.org.uk. It also has a useful page of news stories on UK literacy, which links to newsletter http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/TheLibrary.aspx's (NLT) latest reading survey data. This issue must take a front seat in 2025, and collaboration across the ecosystem to tackle this with an urgent focus is now critical. As a business, we will continue to focus our energy and investment on our flagship social impact programmes Libraries for Primaries and Lit in Colour, working in partnership with our charity, public and private sector and publishing partners.