The P2L Summit brought together 23 teams of university library and press directors with an administrative relationship (typically the press reporting to the library—“P2L”) on May 9–10, 2016, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Convened by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the Association of American University Presses (AAUP), and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), the P2L Summit was funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and hosted by Temple University Libraries and Temple University Press.
In this first such meeting of members of this community, the library-press teams discussed the benefits of, challenges in, and possibilities around this kind of relationship. Summit participants explored how libraries and presses might leverage the strengths of their distinctive enterprises to move toward a unified system of publication, dissemination, access, and preservation that better serves both the host institution and the wider world of scholarship. The P2L Summit was an important first step toward a shared action agenda for university presses and academic libraries that supports a full spectrum of approaches to scholarly communication and publishing.
P2L Summit organizers Mary Rose Muccie (Temple University Press), Joe Lucia (Temple University Libraries), Elliott Shore (ARL), Clifford Lynch (CNI), and Peter Berkery (AAUP) have released a white paper on the summit, “Across the Great Divide: Findings and Possibilities for Action from the 2016 Summit Meeting of Academic Libraries and University Presses with Administrative Relationships (P2L).” The white paper discusses key issues covered in the summit, areas that need greater mutual understanding between libraries and presses, the press’s role on campus, preliminary recommendations that came out of the summit, and the European perspective on these issues as presented by Wolfram Horstmann (Göttingen State and University Library, Germany).
Appendices to the P2L Summit white paper include the text of the opening keynote presentation by Scott Waugh (UCLA) on “The Role of Libraries and University Presses in the Scholarly Eco-system: A Provost’s Perspective”; a roster of summit participants; results and analysis of a pre-summit survey of teams of press and library deans/directors, about how those relationships are managed; the summit agenda; and the text of Clifford Lynch’s closing remarks on the summit.
The white paper concludes by noting a subsequent summit, P2L2, will continue this collective conversation and delve deeply into the recommendations from the first summit as well as those proposed in other contexts. Open to a wider audience, P2L2 will focus on collaboration—both intra- and inter-institutional—and on strategies to reinforce the library and press joint mission and advance the shared goal of promulgating scholarship. Details about P2L2 will be announced in 2017.
Media Contact:
Brenna McLaughlin
bmclaughlin@aaupnet.org
917-244-2051
About the Association of American University Presses
The Association of American University Presses (AAUP) is an organization of nearly 140 international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, AAUP advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds integrity, diversity, stewardship, and intellectual freedom as core values. AAUP members are active across many scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, arts, and sciences, publish significant regional and literary work, and are innovators in the world of digital publishing. AAUP is on the web at http://www.aaupnet.org/.
About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in the US and Canada. ARL’s mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the web at www.ARL.org.
About the Coalition for Networked Information
The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) is dedicated to supporting the transformative promise of digital information technology for the advancement of scholarly communication and the enrichment of intellectual productivity. Some 230 institutions representing higher education, publishing, information technology, scholarly and professional organizations, foundations, and libraries and library organizations make up CNI’s members; CNI is entirely funded through membership dues. Semi-annual membership meetings bring together representatives of CNI’s constituencies to discuss ongoing and new projects, and to plan for future initiatives. Learn more about CNI at https://www.cni.org/.
About Temple University
Temple University is a public, four-year research university and a national leader in education, research, and healthcare. Founded by Dr. Russell H. Conwell in 1884, Temple’s official motto—Perseverantia Vincit, or Perseverance Conquers—reflects its students’ drive to succeed and commitment to excellence. Temple is a vital institution in the Philadelphia region and commonwealth of Pennsylvania, contributing more than $3 billion toward Pennsylvania’s economy each year. The university also has a strong global reach, with long-standing and vibrant campuses in Tokyo and Rome, programs in London, Beijing, and other locations worldwide, and over 300,000 alumni living around the world. Temple University is on the web at http://www.temple.edu/.
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