Collaborative Publishing

Collaborative Publishing Moderated by John W. Warren, Director and Associate Professor, Publishing, George Washington University

Advancing HBCU Scholarship, Diversifying Digital Publishing

Sara Jo Cohen, Editorial Director, University of Michigan Press

Diona E. Layden, Special Collections Librarian, Fisk University

Allison Levy, Director, Brown University Digital Publications

La Tanya L. Reese Rogers, Associate Professor of Literature and Drama, Fisk University

Publishing entities across humanities centers, libraries, and university presses are experimenting with new scholarly forms and collaborations that bring together diverse expertise to support open and innovative humanistic scholarship. This session offers a case study of a community-based collaboration focused on experimentation with new forms in the digital publishing environment. “Advancing HBCU Scholarship, Diversifying Digital Publishing” is a collaboration among the HBCU Library Alliance, Brown University Digital Publications (BUDP), and the University of Michigan Press (UMP) to build capacity for developing enhanced digital monographs. Librarians at three HBCUs, mentored by BUDP and UMP, will obtain the necessary skill set to support a member of their faculty in authoring a born-digital publication. The resulting works will be published via an open access publishing model that disseminates the digital publications to the broadest possible audience for the greatest possible impact. The participants will discuss this collaboration’s impact on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility efforts within the digital publishing landscape, as well as their approach to collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Sara Jo Cohen is Editorial Director at University of Michigan Press, where she handles acquisitions in theater and performance studies, music, dance, and American studies.

Diona E. Layden is the Special Collections Librarian at Fisk University. She is an Alumna of Spelman College and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville and has worked in Special Collections since 2022.

Allison Levy is Director of Brown University Digital Publications, a program of distinction based in the University Library’s renowned Center for Digital Scholarship and launched with generous support from the Mellon Foundation with further support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. BUDP, which provides a novel and intentional university-based approach to digital content development, is helping to set the standards for the future of scholarship in the digital age. In her role as director, Levy brings together key organizational, academic, and technological resources to support new forms of faculty-authored scholarship, resulting in pathbreaking, award-winning publications. A hallmark of BUDP under her leadership is the centering of access and inclusion in the practice and production of digital scholarship, as exemplified by the NEH Institute on Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities “Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing: Resources and Roadmaps” (2022, 2024) and the IMLS program “Advancing HBCU Scholarship, Diversifying Digital Publishing” (2023-2026). Levy also spearheads efforts at the industry level to advance the conversation around the development, evaluation, and publication of born-digital scholarship. She currently serves on the Association of University Presses Library Relations Committee and the Renaissance Society of America Digital and Multimedia Committee.

La Tanya L. Reese Rogers is an Associate Professor of Literature and Drama, and director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Honors Program at Fisk University. She holds a doctorate degree in literature and drama from Howard University and two bachelor’s degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, where she held a Mellon Mays Fellowship. Dr. Rogers is a co-founder of the Edward Alexander Bouchét National Graduate Honor Society, which has chapters at Yale, Stanford, and other prominent universities across the nation. She has published on subjects ranging from contemporary playwrights in the United States to economic racism in Brazil. Her most recent article appears in the Black Theatre Review. She is currently participating in the Mellon-funded Afro PWW2 Program.

Adventures in Digital Publishing: Opportunities, Challenges, Looking Ahead

Ana Maria Jimenez-Moreno, Acquisitions Editor, The Ohio State University Press

Allison Levy, Director, Brown University Digital Publications

Mae Velloso-Lyons, Associate Director, Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory University

Launched in 2020 to celebrate, document, and encourage new innovations in the publication of digital humanistic scholarship, Adventures in Digital Publishing has completed five episodes. This panel will give a broad overview of the genesis of the Emory, Brown, and AUPresses partnership, what they have learned about the challenges and opportunities in these collaborations, and what trends they see ahead for this genre of scholarly work and how it has impacted the scholarly ecosystem. The series has brought to light the many kinds of relationships forged and tested by publishing born-digital projects and it has also showcased the wide range of forms engaged and responsible scholarship can take, such as multimodal/multimedia, album, podcast, etc. Finally, the panelists will turn to the impact these publications have made in the field, for academic publishing, in the careers of the scholars who participated, and what they anticipate will be the conversation moving forward.

Ana Maria Jimenez-Moreno is Acquisitions Editor at The Ohio State University Press. She oversees the literary and cultural studies lists ranging from Classics to contemporary Black Performance. She served as a committee member and then chair of AUPresses’ Library Relations Committee.

Mae Velloso-Lyons is Associate Director of the Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry at Emory University. She coordinates the Mellon-funded Digital Publishing in the Humanities initiative, which supports the development of digital and open access monographs by faculty at Emory and partner institutions in metro-Atlanta. Prior to joining Emory, Velloso-Lyons managed digital humanities research and training programs at Stanford University’s Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis. She received her PhD in Comparative Literature in 2022.

Why Publishers Should Invest in Libraries to Cultivate Lifelong Readers

Rachel Kahn, MPS, George Washington University; Co-founder, Words for Libraries

Leo Postovoit; Co-founder, Words for Libraries

Libraries face unprecedented challenges today, from budget cuts and book bans to community mental health crises. In this landscape, publishers have a unique ethical responsibility and opportunity to strengthen libraries and cultivate a vibrant community of engaged readers. This presentation will explore how publishers can make a lasting impact through advocacy efforts that combat book bans and secure necessary funding; sponsored programs, author events, and initiatives that create lifelong readers; and underwriting comfortable reading spaces, learning labs, and technology access for all community members. This research will delve into a survey of California libraries and highlight successful sponsored efforts, providing a roadmap for publishers to identify and address the most pressing needs.

Rachel Kahn is a 2024 MPS in Publishing graduate, George Washington University, with the current goal to work with children’s literature and libraries to inspire the next generation of readers to love books as much as she does. She is co-founder, with Leo Postovoit, of the Words for Libraries project. Over the past decade, she has worked in many roles around retail—covering visual merchandising and marketing to management and logistics, including 7 years at the Disneyland Resort. Her publishing efforts thus far include work with The Odyssey, Red Hen Press, and Take 3 Presents. Beyond her passions around literature, literacy, and libraries, Rachel is passionate about improving the lives of the dogs (and their human “pawrents”) of her corner of Southern California.

Leo Postovoit is co-founder of the Words for Libraries projectis, a lover of libraries, and seasoned media professional with roles spanning design, marketing, and software engineering. His 15 years of agency, in-house, and freelance work has touched many organizations, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Lowrider Magazine, and Google. With recent certifications in AI, cybersecurity, and marketing, Leo’s main priorities today focus on product management—where he helps organizations champion the user against the always-changing media landscape. Leo published his first book as a senior in high school and is a graduate of San Jose State University’s journalism and anthropology programs.