Latest from The Bookseller

Mondadori in talks to buy RCS Libri Italian publisher Mondadori is in talks to buy RCS Libri, according to a Reuters report. Reuters said Mondadori was in “advanced talks” about purchasing RCS Libri, with the deal worth between €120m and €150m (£88.8m and £111m).

Details on Manchester's library stock cull Manchester City Council has given more details on how it came to dispose of around 240,000 items from its reference collection, and how material was chosen.

New Oxford Brookes branch for Blackwell's Blackwell’s has opened a new shop on Oxford Brookes University campus, 40% bigger than its previous one on the site. The shop officially opened yesterday (18th February), and sits above Starbucks in a new partnership for the bookseller. Starbucks is based on the ground floor and Blackwell’s takes up the first and mezzanine levels of the building. It features more trade books front of store than usual to entice locals to use the shop.

Waterstones Piccadilly expands children’s section Waterstones’ flagship Piccadilly store is expanding its children’s section after a sales increase of 20%. London regional manager Luke Taylor said the company decided to re-think the space after “the recent explosion in children's sales”, driven by reference, games and educational related products. The children’s area will take up two-thirds of the second floor and will include a bigger picture book and board book range, a new YA space with crossover titles like Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, and an area for related products such as party packs and toys.

Ali Smith: Warwick report 'deeply distressing' Writer Ali Smith has said the decrease in contact with the arts in state schools, revealed in the Warwick Commission's report yesterday (18th February), is "deeply distressing" and the sign of an education system "going backwards".

New Dr Seuss heads for US bookstores Random House Children's Books US will this July publish a recently discovered Dr Seuss book. What Pet Should I Get? features the brother and sister characters introduced in Seuss’ One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and is about a child’s excitement over selecting a pet. The book will be illustrated and will hit bookshelves in the US on July 28th. The manuscript was found in a box of the author’s texts and sketches by his wife, Audrey Geisel, and his secretary Claudia Prescott, said Random House. The story and the illustrations were nearly complete.

Relaunched Guardian Bookshop sees sales leap The Guardian Bookshop has achieved a 68% increase in sales since re-launching its website in the run up to Christmas.

Collins, Atwood and Moyes join Twitter Fiction festival Jackie Collins, Margaret Atwood and Jojo Moyes are among the names joining the third #TwitterFiction festival taking place from 11th to 15th May. The festival, which is run by the Association of American Publishers and Penguin Random House, invites authors from across the industry to create original fiction using the Twitter platform. Its aim is to “embrace, explore and develop the art of storytelling on Twitter”, with fiction that uses Twitter functionality creatively strongly encouraged.

Over half Staffs libraries to be volunteer-run Staffordshire has confirmed plans which will see more than half of its libraries passed to volunteers. The county council's cabinet approved plans today (18th February) that will see only 20 of the county's 43 libraries remain managed and staffed by the council, while the rest will be "supported and delivered by the community, with access to formal county council support."

Wong Cookbook to Mitchell Beazley Octopus imprint Mitchell Beazley is to publish a Chinese cookbook by restaurant owner Andrew Wong. Publishing director Stephanie Jackson acquired world rights all languages to A Wong – The Cookbook from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann. The book will provide “a fresh take on regional Chinese cooking as well as breaking new ground and reintroducing forgotten Chinese foods to the west”. Containing more than 100 recipes, the book will include a foreward from Chinese chef Ken Hom.

Freight buys Galloway short stories Freight Books has signed a short story collection from writer Janice Galloway. Publishing director Adrian Searle bought world English language rights in the collection, titled Jellyfish, from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann. Searle said: “I’m delighted to be publishing Janice Galloway’s latest collection of stories, Jellyfish. She is a writer I have read with admiration from the beginning of her career. She is undoubtedly one of the most significant voices in contemporary British literature and a master of the short form.”