Abstract
Introduction: This article discusses the changes to overall goals, direction, and services that were made to two library publishing programs at Pacific University and the University of South Florida when they were no longer able to grow their programs due to an inability to hire additional staff and COVID-19-instigated staff reassignments. Description of Programs: Pacific University’s publishing program grew out of its institutional repository and, at its peak, published seven open access journals. In addition, Pacific University Libraries founded a University Press in 2016, which has published six books as of 2021. The University of South Florida’s publishing program began publishing open access journals in 2008, and it has grown to include over 20 journals. Lessons Learned: Both the Pacific University and the University of South Florida publishing programs have faced scalability and sustainability issues, which were further exacerbated by COVID-19. The focus of our library publishing programs, as well as many others, has been on continual growth, which is not sustainable without the ability to hire additional staff or allocate staff time differently. We argue that standardizing services as well as creating a business plan can help ensure that publishing programs are sustainable and scalable. Next Steps: We hope to begin a conversation among library publishers about acknowledging limits and creating achievable definitions of success outside of continual growth.
Highlights
This article discusses the changes to overall goals, direction, and services that were made to two library publishing programs at Pacific University and the University of South Florida when they were no longer able to grow their programs due to an inability to hire additional staff and COVID-19-instigated staff reassignments
We will describe what happened when Pacific University’s program reached capacity and changed focus, and how COVID-19 shined a spotlight on the struggles of sustainability and scalability when it necessitated the redistribution of staff who worked on the University of South Florida’s publications, which caused a shift in their service model
We will offer some strategies to help ensure the sustainability of library publishing programs in the long-term
Summary
We will discuss two library publishing programs: Pacific University, a small liberal arts institution with about 4,000 students, and the University of South Florida (USF), a large research institution with about 50,000 students. We will describe what happened when Pacific University’s program reached capacity and changed focus, and how COVID-19 shined a spotlight on the struggles of sustainability and scalability when it necessitated the redistribution of staff who worked on the University of South Florida’s publications, which caused a shift in their service model. We will offer some strategies to help ensure the sustainability of library publishing programs in the long-term. We hope to start a conversation in the library publishing community around the reality that all publishing programs must face: they cannot expand indefinitely without additional staff time (whether that takes the form of redistributing current staff or hiring additional part time, full time, or freelancers) or changing and/or reducing the services they offer in some way
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