LPC Blog

The Library Publishing Coalition Blog is used to share news and updates about the LPC and the Library Publishing Forum, to draw attention to items of interest to the community, and to publish informal commentaries by LPC members and friends.

December 9, 2025

LPC members can now sign up for the 2026 LPC Connections program!

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Welcome to the LPC Connections! Once again, the LPC Professional Development committee invites you to participate in the LPC Connections program. The program is open to all LPC member institutions and welcomes both newcomers and those who have participated previously.

Last year (2025), we piloted the new Connections Program where each month participants were matched with a new partner. Based on your feedback, we are going to modify things a bit this year (hey, that’s why we called it a pilot!) and create small group rotations. You and your connections will meet up to three times to learn from each other about library publishing (optional conversation starters will be provided), and then in the next rotation you’ll do it again with new connections! In some cases, you might really click with your connections and schedule additional meetings—it’s all up to you! Please note that while we will try to limit overlap/recurring pairings, participants will occasionally meet with the same person(s) more than once.

The Connections Program will run from February – December 2026, with mid-year and end-of-year check-ins where we will receive feedback from all participants.

What you need to do:

The LPC Professional Development Committee is committed to the success of the Connections Program and its participants. If you have any questions, please email Stefanie Buck (stefanie.buck@oregonstate.edu) and Cosette Bruhns Alonso (cosette_bruhns@brown.edu).

December 8, 2025

Elizabeth Schwartz and Wendy Robertson receive the 2025 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. On behalf of the LPC Board, we are delighted to announce that the recipients of the 2025 award are Elizabeth Schwartz and Wendy Robertson, for their co-leadership of the Preservation Working Group. Together, they steered the group through complex decision-making and a challenging writing process to create the Quick Guides to Digital Preservation for Library Publishers. These guides are the realization of a goal set by the earlier Preservation Task Force: to break the complexities of digital preservation into manageable chunks that will support practice. The first set of guides was released in September, and is being used as a foundation for further development. 

A statement from Elizabeth:

Elizabeth Schwatz headshot“Winning the LPC Exemplary Service award is such an honor! When I began my career in library publishing, I found myself needing to preserve hundreds of digital publications our library had published over the past 20 years. My experience chairing the digital preservation working group with Wendy provided both much needed technical guidance and community in navigating the daunting task of preserving born digital library publications! I’m thrilled our quick guides are now available to all library publishers.” 

A statement from Wendy:

Wendy Robertson headshot“I am truly honored and humbled to have received this recognition. I am proud we have been able to contribute to LPC through the Preservation Working Group. LPC is one of my favorite library organizations, full of brilliant, kind, and helpful people doing amazing things. To have our efforts on the committee recognized is a bit flabbergasting given what so many other people do for LPC. Knowing what an outstanding group of people are involved in LPC makes it mean so much to be recognized for our efforts. This is one of the nicest things that has ever happened to me in my career. Thank you.”

Elizabeth and Wendy will each receive a complimentary registration to the 2026 Library Publishing Forum and a $500 honorarium. 

Please join us in congratulating Elizabeth and Wendy!

On behalf of the LPC Board

Harrison Inefuku, President
Corinne Guimont, President Elect
Erin Jerome, Secretary
Annie Johnson, Treasurer
Sonya Betz, DEI Officer
Leigh-Ann Butler, Strategic Partnerships Officer
Liz Hamilton
Angel Peterson
Janet Swatscheno, Past President

December 2, 2025

LPC Connections: 2025 in Reflection

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This month we celebrate another successful LPC Connections program (formerly known as the LPC Peer Mentorship program). The program, which is managed by the LPC Professional Development Committee, provides an opportunity for participants to meet other members in LPC, share ideas and thoughts about library publishing, learn new things, share experiences, and generally support their peers in their library publishing program.

In 2025, the Professional Development piloted a new model for the program, moving from a one-to-one model, where participants meet with the same person regularly for a year, to a one-to-many model, where participants meet with a different person each month, giving them the opportunity to meet more like-minded individuals with varied experiences. This change was based on comments provided by the 2024 cohort in the mid-year and annual feedback forms.

The one-to-many pilot commenced in February 2025. In the mid-year and end-of-year reviews, we learned that participants liked the new model because it created an opportunity to learn about many different types of library publishing models and to meet a larger number of individuals; however, they also missed the deeper connections that a one-to-one model can provide.

Consequently, the current LPC Connections coordinators are making a few adjustments to the program for the coming year. In 2026, we will be organizing the meetings in small groups (2 to 3 people, depending on the number of participants) for 2 to 3 times before rotating the groups, bringing together the best of both worlds. We hope many of you will consider joining the program for 2026 and sharing your knowledge and experiences with your fellow LPC members.

Timeline for the 2026 cycle:

  • Applications open December 10! We are accepting applications through January 14, and we’ll send out regular reminders.
  • The list of participants and rotation schedule will be shared so you can get to know your Connection(s) before meeting up. You and your Connection(s) can schedule a meeting time that works for everyone.
  • The LPC Connections coordinators will provide you with talking points to help jump-start the conversation, but you are welcome to delve into any topic that interests you. We imagine that meetings will be anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes (most participants reported meeting for at least 45 minutes) but it’s flexible.
  • We will send out mid-year and annual feedback forms so you can let us know how it’s going and how we can improve the program.

Questions? Feel free to reach out to the LPC Connection Coordinators: Stefanie Buck (stefanie.buck@oregonstate.edu) and Cosette Bruhns Alonso (cosette_bruhns@brown.edu)

November 11, 2025

LPC dues freeze for 2026-27 program year

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LPC membership is already a bargain, with full institutional membership and unlimited community participation for under $3k/year, but we are always striving to make membership more affordable and accessible. 

Understanding that many libraries are facing tight budgets, and given LPC’s  solid financial position, we are foregoing our scheduled annual dues increase for next year. LPC membership dues for 2026–2027 will remain frozen at the 2025-26 rate. 

Dues for regular membership

    • 2025-2026 program year dues: $2,756 USD
    • 2026-2027 program year dues: $2,894 USD $2,756 USD

Even with this freeze, we understand that this is a challenging time for many libraries. If budget challenges have you thinking about ending your membership next year, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to talk with you about options.

November 10, 2025

LPC welcomes a new member: University of Idaho

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Please join us in welcoming the University of Idaho as a new member of the Library Publishing Coalition! The voting rep for the University of Idaho is Leesa Love. A statement from the University of Idaho:

The University of Idaho is the state’s flagship public land-grant research university, as well as its first and only R1 institution. The main campus is situated in Moscow, Idaho, on the beautiful homelands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce), Palus (Palouse) and Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) tribes. With additional locations in 42 of Idaho’s 44 counties, U of I extends its impact through partnerships with communities across the state.

The University of Idaho Library currently supports students, faculty, and staff publishing efforts through CollectionBuilder—our static web framework for creating digital exhibits used around the world—an OA publishing fund, library-sponsored fellowships for digital scholarship and OER, our institutional repository, and various open publishing platforms. Recent digital scholarship publications from our Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning (CDIL) showcase these efforts.

We look forward to joining this community of practice to represent Idaho and continue to build out our publishing program here at U of I Library, with a focus on experiential learning opportunities and community impact. 

October 30, 2025

Upcoming webinar on AI Editorial Policies

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The LPC Professional Development Committee invites you to join an online moderated discussion on developing AI policies for publications. We are hosting three expert speakers who will share their experiences in developing an AI policy for their publishing program or service, discuss some of the challenges involved, and answer your questions about the process.  This one-hour webinar is being recorded.

Speakers

Representing In the Library with the Lead Pipe, an open access, peer reviewed journal:

  • Ryan Randall (Editorial Board and Instructional Designer, Idaho State University, USA)
  • Brittany Paloma Fiedler (Editorial Board and Teaching and Learning Librarian, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA)
  • Read In the Library with a Lead Pipe’s AI policy

Representing Ubiquity Press, an uncompromisingly open, values-driven publisher with a mission to make open access publishing the norm in academic communication:

Details

Date: Thursday, November 20, 2025

Time: 9am Pacific / 10am Mountain / 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK

Cost: Free

Registration Link

This webinar will be recorded and made available!

October 29, 2025

Call for applications for the 2026 Library Publishing Forum scholarships

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About the Forum scholarships

The Library Publishing Coalition is offering scholarships to offset travel costs for first-time Forum attendees from the United States and Canada, with a focus on individuals who will bring new and diverse perspectives to the community. There are two scholarships available, each of which will cover up to $2,500 USD in travel-related expenses, including airfare, hotel, and meals. Scholarship awardees will have Forum registration fees waived and will be paired with a community mentor to help introduce them to the conference and the community. For awardees from non-member institutions, the award includes guest access to the LPC community for the year following the in-person Forum. This would include access to the listserv and service opportunities, and the opportunity to participate in the peer mentorship program. All recipients will also receive a waived registration to the virtual Forum planned for May 2027. (If you live outside the US and Canada, and are interested in travelling to the Library Publishing Forum, you can visit the IFLA International Scholarship site.)

Eligibility

  • This round of the scholarship program will only be open to applicants from the United States and Canada. 
  • Applications will be accepted from individuals at both Library Publishing Coalition member and non-member institutions. 
  • Anyone who has not attended a previous in-person Library Publishing Forum is eligible to apply. (Anyone who has -only- attended the Library Publishing Forum virtually is encouraged to apply for this scholarship for travel funding to the 2026 in-person Forum.)
  • Applicants new to their librarianship career (first 3–5 years), new to the field of library publishing, and/or who identify as members of a group (or groups) underrepresented among library and publishing practitioners will be given preference.  These groups include – but are not limited to – members of a racial/ethnic minority, first-generation college graduates, immigrants and refugees, persons with a disability, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. 
  • Applications from people who could contribute to the diversity of perspectives at the Forum in other ways are also warmly welcomed.

How to apply for a scholarship

To apply for a scholarship, please fill out the application form. Applications are due by December 12, 2025.

UPDATE: The deadline for applications has been extended to January 5, 2026.

The Library Publishing Coalition’s Forum Scholarship Committee will review applications and notify applicants by Early February 2026.

Questions?

Email contact@librarypublishing.org. 

About the Library Publishing Forum

The Library Publishing 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 includes representatives from a broad, international spectrum of academic library backgrounds, as well as groups that collaborate with libraries to publish scholarly works, including publishing vendors, university presses, and scholars. The Forum is sponsored by the Library Publishing Coalition, but you do not need to be a member of the LPC to attend.

October 29, 2025

2026 Library Publishing Forum Call for Proposals

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The Library Publishing 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 sponsored by the Library Publishing Coalition, but you do not need to be a member of the LPC to attend. 

The Library Publishing Coalition (LPC) is now accepting in-person and a limited number remote proposals for the 2026 Library Publishing Forum! We are thrilled to offer an in-person conference at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA, on June 17 and 18, 2026, with active remote engagement also planned.  Proposals may address any topic of interest to the library publishing community. The proposal deadline is December 12, 2025. UPDATE: The deadline for submitting a proposal has been extended to January 5, 2026.

Proposal submissions are welcome from LPC members and nonmembers, including library employees, university press employees, scholars, students, and other scholarly communication and publishing professionals. Again, we welcome proposals from first-time presenters and representatives of small and emerging publishing programs.

The Library Publishing Coalition is pleased to announce that we will once again be offering scholarships to offset travel costs for first-time Forum attendees from the United States and Canada, with a focus on individuals who will bring new and diverse perspectives to the community. There will be two scholarships available, each of which will cover up to $2,500 in travel-related expenses and a Forum registration waiver. More information, including award details, application instructions, and application deadlines are available on the Library Publishing Forum Scholarships Webpage. 

We are committed to expanding the diversity of perspectives we hear from at the Library Publishing Forum. Working towards some of the “Continuing Initiatives” from the LPC Roadmap for Anti-Racist Practice, we ask all proposals to explicitly address how they are inclusive of multiple perspectives, address DEI, 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 seek to avoid demographically homogeneous panels. Everyone submitting a presentation will also have an opportunity to complete a brief, anonymous demographic survey so we can better understand who is submitting proposals to LPF.

Learn more and submit a proposal.

LPC Program Committee

  • Ryan Otto, Kansas State University (co-chair) 
  • Jessica Thorlakson, University of Alberta (co-chair) 
  • Elizabeth Bedford, University of Washington (host liaison)
  • Ginelle Baskin, Middle Tennessee State University
  • Stefanie Buck, Oregon State University
  • Christine Cata, University of Miami
  • Jennifer Coronado, Butler University (PALNI)
  • Annie Johnson, University of Delaware (Board liaison)
  • Cheryl Ball, Library Publishing Coalition
  • Melanie Schlosser, Library Publishing Coalition

October 17, 2025

Report on the Library Publishing Forum 2025 Demographic Survey

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The development and use of this survey were based on the recommendations found in the Library Publishing Coalition’s (LPC) Roadmap for Anti-Racist Practice. This is a charge carried out by the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Committee. The 2025 survey was administered to Library Publishing Forum (LPF) attendees to understand who attends the Forum. In addition, this survey helps us track demographic changes over time. (View the reports on the 2024, 2023, and 2022 surveys.)

The 2025 Forum was a virtual event held May 5-8, 2025. There were 316 registrations, slightly more than the last virtual Forum in 2023 (267). While we track attendance for each session, we didn’t track individual participation, so we don’t know the overall attendance rate for registrants. The opening keynote address attracted the highest attendance for a single session, 119 people.

Notes

As all questions were optional, not all questions were answered. Therefore, numbers/counts may not always add up. The respondent information includes both LPF attendees and presenters.

(more…)

October 3, 2025

Help Us Share Exceptional Work in Library Publishing!

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The LPC Showcase Week Task Force invites you to participate in Library Publishing Showcase Week 2026, a new annual advocacy campaign highlighting the creativity, innovation, and impact of library publishing programs. 

Deadline for submissions: November 1, 2025
Submit your work here: https://forms.gle/bmMSER2XrwzLJPED9

Please note that submission does not guarantee inclusion, though we will feature as many programs as we can.

Celebrate your publishing program!

Showcase Week is an opportunity to publicly share your work and demonstrate how library publishing benefits authors, students, researchers, and the broader scholarly community. You can submit anything that you’d like to promote that shows how instrumental your programs are! Consider submitting: 

  • successful publications, flipped journals, OER, or other publications
  • student publishing experiences, 
  • innovative programs or processes,  
  • impactful partnerships on campus or beyond

Or other projects that highlight and celebrate the contributions of library publishing programs within and beyond their communities.

Programs are welcome to submit more than one suggestion for inclusion in Showcase Week. 

Theme

For our inaugural showcase week, we are aligning with our forthcoming  library publishing advocacy campaign (more information soon!), “Library Publishing Creates.” Specifically, we’re looking to spotlight how library publishing programs create: 

  • Impact (e.g. increases visibility of publication, flexible copyright, non-traditional outputs, inclusive authorship opportunities)
  • Learning opportunities (e.g. student publication opportunities, training and support for editorial processes)
  • Cost savings (e.g. free to publish, sustainable publishing ecosystem)
  • Responsive services, tailored to local needs (e.g. how your program specifically fits your institution’s needs). 

Want to submit to the campaign but not sure what category your submission fits into? Not a problem! You’ll have the opportunity to indicate whether you feel your submission aligns with any of those categories, but there doesn’t need to be an explicit tie-in at this stage.  Just submit what you want to highlight and we’ll help figure out how it best fits within the framework of Showcase Week!

What to submit and how to incorporate it into the campaign

Submissions fall into two categories: 

  1. Promotional resources that have already been created. These can include existing press releases or reports that show the impact of the program. The task force will share these resources as is or work with you to ensure the resources align with Showcase Week templates. 
  2. The publication/program/process/partnership that you’d like to highlight. The task force will work with you to incorporate your submission into a template they’ve created to include in the campaign. Specifically, we’ll work with you (and provide questions/guidance) to create a: 
    1. Interview (written or multimedia) 
    2. Blog post
    3. Multimedia
    4. Another format that you think best meets your submission. 

As this is a pilot, the task force is still finalizing details of what each of these look like, but we’re open to suggestions and feedback on what format is the best fit for your submission.

Questions

For questions, email contact@librarypublishing.org.. 

Thank you—we look forward to seeing your submissions!