Lever Press and Knowledge Unlatched: Two Paths to a Common Goal

"Insulating the publication decision from the financial requirements of open access book publishing is the connecting theme between two different and complementary initiatives that Michigan Publishing will be supporting in 2016; Knowledge Unlatched and the Lever Press."

Knowledge Unlatched pledges money to make the books they procure available to all member libraries. Still under development, Lever Press is an initiative of a group of Liberal Arts College (LAC) libraries to create a book publishing house uniquely aligned with the mission and ethos of small, selective colleges.

What makes both these initiatives special is the central role libraries are playing. In both cases, the commitments from small colleges with HSS focus are disproportionately outstanding. Libraries are proactively engaging in the change to global scholarly communication landscape, while protecting their patrons.