Posts by Kyra Diehl

October 8, 2026

Sonya Betz Receives the 2026 LPC Award for Exemplary Service

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The LPC Award for Exemplary Service recognizes substantial contributions by an LPC community member to advancing the mission, vision, and values of the Library Publishing Coalition. This year we had a particularly impressive and competitive pool of nominations, reflecting the strength of contributions of our membership.

On behalf of the LPC Board, we are delighted to announce that the recipient of the 2026 award is Sonya Betz, for her work as a connector, advocate, and community builder. In particular, the nominators and LPC Board noted the significance of Sonya’s impact in growing the Canadian library publishing community presence in LPC and the development of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Library Publishing Community Engagement Team (LPCET). In the latter case, her work helped ensure strong connections between LPC and LPCET, including a dedicated seat on LPCET for an LPC member institution. Sonya additionally served on the LPC Board from 2023-26, including service as its Secretary and unseen key roles in shaping programs such as the Library Publishing Creates campaign. 

A statement from Sonya:

I am deeply honoured to be selected for the LPC’s Exemplary Service Award. This community has been such an important part of my professional journey in library publishing, and I’ve been so supported, uplifted and inspired by all of you! It was such a pleasure serving on the Board, and LPC’s openness to exploring creative solutions to engaging with the Canadian community of library publishers, and unwavering support in moving forward, were foundational to the creation of the LPCET. I feel so fortunate to be one small part of this amazing organization, and really proud of what we are accomplishing together.

Sonya will receive a complimentary registration to the 2027 Library Publishing Forum and a $500 honorarium. 

LPC 2027 Forum Logo
September 29, 2026

2027 Library Publishing Forum Call for Proposals

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The Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) is now accepting proposals for the 2027 Virtual Library Publishing Forum to be held May 10-13, 2027! The proposal deadline is November 6, 2026.

Who Should Submit?

Proposal submissions are welcome from LPC members and nonmembers including first-time presenters and representatives of small and emerging publishing programs.

About the Forum

The Library Publishing Forum is an annual conference bringing together representatives from libraries and collaborators engaged in publishing initiatives. The Forum is sponsored by the Library Publishing Coalition, but you do not need to be a member to present or attend.

Commitment to DEIA

We are committed to expanding the diversity of perspectives we hear from at the Forum. We ask all proposals to explicitly address how they are inclusive of multiple perspectives, address DEIA, or incorporate anti-racist and anti-oppressive approaches. Presentations about specific communities should include members of that community in their speaker list, and for sessions with multiple speakers, we encourage organizers to consider demographic and perspective diversity. Proposal submitters will have an opportunity to complete a brief, anonymous demographic survey for data collection purposes only.

Suggested Proposal Topics

We welcome proposals on topics including, but not limited to: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), decolonial approaches to library publishing, intersections of library publishing with broader social issues, university presses, society and association partnerships, funding and sustainability models, copyright, accessibility, AI in library publishing, and all things open (open access publishing, open science, open data, and open educational resources). 

Session Types 

  • Panel (60 minutes)
  • Active (60 minutes)
  • Birds-of-a-feather (30 minutes)
  • Individual (15 minutes)
  • Lightning (5 minutes)

Learn more and submit a proposal.

LPC Program Committee

  • Stefanie Buck, Oregon State University (co-chair)
  • Christine Cata, University of Miami (co-chair)
  • Ginelle Baskin, Middle Tennessee State University
  • Jason Boczar, University of South Florida
  • Bailey Lake, Eastern Kentucky University
  • Leesa Love, University of Idaho
  • Olivia Oestreich, University of Louisville
  • Angel Peterson, Penn State University
  • Ari Romero, University of North Texas  

September 29, 2026

LPC Welcomes a New Strategic Affiliate: OLH

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Open Library of Humanities logo

The Library Publishing Coalition is delighted to welcome the Open Library of Humanities (OLH) as a new Strategic Affiliate! OLH has shared the following statement:

The Open Library of Humanities is an award-winning, academic-led publisher of diamond open access journals based at Birkbeck, University of London. With initial funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and subsequent support from Arcadia, a charitable fund, the OLH covers its costs by payments from an international library consortium rather than any author fee. This funding mechanism enables equitable open access in the humanities disciplines, with charges neither to readers nor authors.

Joining LPC’s Strategic Affiliates Program reflects their commitment to working collaboratively across the open scholarly communications ecosystem and to continuing to strengthen relationships between libraries, publishers, infrastructure providers and other organisations working toward a more open and equitable future for scholarly publishing.

Strategic affiliates are peer membership associations who have a focal area in scholarly communications and substantial engagement with libraries, publishers, or both. See our list of strategic affiliates or learn more about the program.

September 23, 2026

Webinar: University-Based Publishing Futures Updates (10/06/2026)

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University-Based Publishing Futures (UBPF) is hosting a webinar to update the community on the work we have done over the last couple of years. UBPF is a coalition of publishing professionals working together to share knowledge and coordinate advocacy efforts for university-based publishing. Please join us on Tuesday, October 6, from 1-2pm ET for a refresher on what UBPF is, updates from the UBPF working groups, and a discussion of future directions for this community. The webinar will be recorded; the recording and slides will be shared directly with registrants and be posted publicly to the UBPF website.

Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uGiM0QayQFikm_cnl_hMJA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Learn more: For more information about the origins, evolution, and work of UBPF, consult the following links:

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This workshop is supported by the University-Based Publishing Futures Community, the Library Publishing Coalition, and the Association of University Presses.