The Kudos program recognizes impactful work done by community members on behalf of the Library Publishing Coalition community.
Jessica has led the way to standing up a robust Discord server to make sure everyone has an opportunity to engage with the Forum, whether they are in Seattle or tuning in from afar. Her expertise and attention to detail will ensure an inclusive and professional virtual complement to the main conference, and will offer a template to build on in future years!
A quote from Jessica:
You can find Jessica on Discord masquerading as her coworkers Luna (cat) and Torvi (dog).
“The LPC/library publishing community is one of my favorites, and I loved the opportunity to help increase opportunities for engagement at LPF with both the sessions and community. I know online engagement is going through a period of change, and I hope the Discord was a welcome opportunity for connections and backchanneling during the conference. Big shout out to my other wonderful members of the RETF for all the community and collaboration over the past year!”
This Kudos was submitted by Jessica’s colleagues on the Remote Engagement Task Force.
The Kudos program recognizes impactful work done by community members on behalf of the Library Publishing Coalition community.
This year, for the first time in the group’s history, the Curriculum Editorial Board (Johanna Meetz, Joshua Neds-Fox, Chelcie Rowell, John Warren, and Rebecca Wojturska) recruited a new group of authors to create updated content for the curriculum. The editorial board scoped out the necessary revisions and new content, created templates and guidance, recruited authors, and supported them through the writing and editing process. The new Policy units won’t be published until next program year, but I wanted to acknowledge the stellar work done by the outgoing cohort of editorial board members in making this work happen. Kudos!
A quote from the Curriculum Editorial Board:
“Thank you for this honor! The updated policy module is the culmination of many years of work from this Board, from previous Board members, many of whom have served two terms, and our former Editor in Chief, Cheryl Ball. We are also grateful to LPC for the funding they allocated to pay the authors for their work, and the authors for their contributions.”
The Kudos program recognizes impactful work done by community members on behalf of the Library Publishing Coalition community.
This year’s Professional Development Committee (Anna Dimoula, Cosette Bruhns Alonso, DeDe Dawson, Lora Lennertz, and Patti Sherbaniuk) set out to create space for conversations about artificial intelligence in library publishing. In a stellar example of follow-through, an exploratory community call led to a webinar (on AI editorial policies), which they followed up by creating guidance for library publishers who wish to document expectations and rules around the use of AI in scholarly publishing. This is a significant contribution to an emerging area of practice in the field, and great work by an LPC committee!
We’re happy to include comments from some of the committee members.
“Working alongside a passionate community of professionals to shape the AI Editorial Policy Guide has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my time as chair of the Professional Development Committee.”—Anna DiMoula
“I do not work in the realm of library publishing so I joined this committee to learn more about it. This group has been great to work with, very knowledgeable and patient with me as a newbie.”—Patti Sherbaniuk
“Serving on the LPC Professional Development Committee has been a great way to contribute to the library publishing community and learn at the same time. I’ve also made some new professional contacts along the way. It has been a valuable experience!”—DeDe Dawson
The Kudos program recognizes impactful work done by community members on behalf of the Library Publishing Coalition community.
This Kudos recognizes the 2024-2026 Staffing Survey Task Force, the group charged with carrying out LPC’s first ever Directory off-year deep-dive survey! Melissa Chim, Miranda Phair, Michelle Brailey, Lauren Collister, Heather Hankins, Alyssa Huffman, Bailey Lake, Barbara Loomis, Joseph Muller, Donna O’Malley, and Anita Walz devised and tested a survey of staffing practices in library publishing, gathered responses, analyzed the survey data, and drafted an interesting and informative report. This was a substantial undertaking, and will contribute significantly to our understanding of how library publishing programs are staffed.
We’re happy to include comments from some of the task force members.
“I really enjoyed the opportunity to be able to contribute to an LPC initiative (and the inaugural deep-dive topic for directory off years) especially as I come from a non-member institution. Many thanks to my fellow committee members for all of their enthusiasm and hard work in completing the project.”—Miranda Phair (co-chair)
“It was a pleasure to work with this group on this timely and important topic. We addressed a big, broad question, and learned a lot from each other and our participants along the way. It’s my hope that this work will be a first step towards improving our understanding and advocacy for staffing and capacity, and that this knowledge can be built upon in the years to come.”—Lauren Collister
“Working on the Staffing Survey Task Force has been an incredibly rewarding experience. It provided a wonderful opportunity to connect with talented colleagues across the field and to learn more about the library publishing climate. I’m excited to see how the data gathered will benefit library publishing programs moving forward! Thank you to the Library Publishing Coalition for putting this task force together!”—Bailey Lake
UJ Press is an Open Access University Press based at the University of Johannesburg Library. The press publishes both Gold and Diamond Access books and journals in print, electronic and audio formats.
Ball State University is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, with over 20,000 students, 120 undergraduate majors, and 100 graduate degrees offered through its seven academic colleges. Ball State University offers a number of highly ranked programs and has a vision to be a national model of excellence for challenging, learner- centered academic communities that advance knowledge and improve economic vitality and quality of life. This vision is shared by the University Libraries where the Digital Scholarship and Scholarly Communication unit advances the creation, dissemination, and preservation of open access research and digital scholarship through collaborative opportunities, workshops and instruction, consultative services, and technology solutions. Our projects span from GIS, to scholarly communication, digital projects, and journal hosting. We strive to focus on innovation, accessibility, and new program development such as textbook and monograph publishing.
The above awards help first-time participants attend the 2026 Library Publishing Forum. The Forum is an annual conference bringing together representatives from libraries engaged in (or considering) publishing initiatives to define and address major questions and challenges; to identify and document collaborative opportunities; and to strengthen and promote this community of practice. The Forum is being held June 17–18, 2026, in Seattle, Washington. The LPC Forum Scholarship and IFLA International Scholarship both offset travel and registration costs for first-time Forum attendees who bring new and diverse perspectives to the community. They are each assigned a mentor during the Forum and are offered opportunities to engage with the community after the Forum.
LPC/AUPresses Cross-Pollinator Award Recipients
Elizabeth Bedford, University of Washington [LPC member]
Sophia Hebert, Indiana University Press [AUPresses member]
The Cross-Pollinator award is a joint scholarship from the LPC and AUPresses providing free registration to a first-time attendee to each annual meeting: A member of an AUPresses institution receives free registration to attend the LPC Forum, and a member of an LPC institution receives free registration to the AUPresses Annual Meeting. AUPresses is the premier professional development and networking event for university press and nonprofit scholarly publishers. The AUPresses Annual Meeting runs June 13–15, 2026, co-located with the Forum in Seattle, Washington.
“Working alongside a passionate community of professionals to shape the AI Editorial Policy Guide has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my time as chair of the 
“I do not work in the realm of library publishing so I joined this committee to learn more about it. This group has been great to work with, very knowledgeable and patient with me as a newbie.”—Patti Sherbaniuk
“Serving on the LPC 
“It was a pleasure to work with this group on this timely and important topic. We addressed a big, broad question, and learned a lot from each other and our participants along the way. It’s my hope that this work will be a first step towards improving our understanding and advocacy for 
“Working on the 
Ball State University is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, with over 20,000 students, 120 undergraduate majors, and 100 graduate degrees offered through its seven academic colleges. Ball State University offers a number of highly ranked programs and has a vision to be a national model of excellence for challenging, learner- centered academic communities that advance knowledge and improve economic vitality and quality of life. This vision is shared by the University Libraries where the Digital Scholarship and Scholarly Communication unit advances the creation, dissemination, and preservation of open access research and digital scholarship through collaborative opportunities, workshops and instruction, consultative services, and technology solutions. Our projects span from GIS, to scholarly communication, digital projects, and journal hosting. We strive to focus on innovation, accessibility, and new program development such as textbook and monograph publishing.