Books printed on-demand using an Espresso Book Machine, oral histories of Hurricane Sandy, the British Library Press: what do all of these have in common? They are all examples of libraries as publishers.
Different types of libraries serve users with different needs and goals. Thus, the publishing services that libraries provide will vary significantly by type. Academic libraries have relatively robust publishing services to support the research and publishing needs of faculty and students. Public libraries are just beginning to offer writing and publishing services as part of a broader “maker” culture. Regardless of type, the decision to offer publishing services must be made with the needs of users in mind.
To support these types of services, the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association has commissioned this Library Publishing Toolkit. Developed as part of the 2016 Emerging Leaders Program, this project builds on the work of the 2015 Emerging Leaders class. RUSA hopes this Toolkit will grow and evolve with input from the wider profession. If you have a suggestion for an addition to this collection, please email RUSA at rusapubtools@gmail.com.
Consisting of links to primarily free, online resources, this toolkit covers the following areas of service:
- Education and Instruction
- Content Development and Editorial
- Product Design and Production
- Marketing and Dissemination
The Toolkit also collects examples of existing library publishing programs to offer a glimpse of the diversity of forms these services take.
While aimed at librarians interested in offering publishing services to the public, the Toolkit is also useful to authors and others interested in the publishing process.
This Toolkit (but not the external sites it links to) is governed by a Creative Commons–Attribution license.
Click here to view the 2016 RUSA Emerging Leaders poster.
RUSA Library Publishing Toolkit 