Open Education Resources Publishing through Consortial and University Press Collaboration: Lessons from Two Statewide Initiatives

• Type of Material: Book Chapter
• Authors: John Morgenstern, Emory University; Yang Wu, Clemson University; BJ Robinson, University of North Georgia; Jeff Gallant, Affordable Learning Georgia
• Language: English
• Date: 2025-10-15
• Publisher: American Library Association (ACRL)
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © Association of College and Research Libraries
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): https://www.ala.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/9798892553766.pdf
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Library Publishing: How to Launch, Enhance, and Sustain Your Program
• ISBN: 979-8-89255-375-9
• Start Page: 163
• End Page: 176
• Place of Publication or Presentation: Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Keywords: Library publishing, university presses, open education resources, OER
• Research Categories: Library science

Abstract

Academic libraries play a key role in publishing open education resources (OER), but limitations on budget, staffing, and publishing expertise threaten the sustainability of efforts at any single institution. This panel showcases two trailblazing collaborations between statewide library consortia and university presses that leverage inter-institutional resources to publish high-impact, professional-quality OER sustainably. A decade ago, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia launched Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) with a mandate to reduce the cost of course materials for students and enhance the discovery of library materials through GALILEO, Georgia’s virtual library. A grant program through ALG underwrites the adoption, adaptation, and creation of OER. The University of North Georgia Press partners with this program, offering grantees such services as peer review, project management, and production. Inspired by Georgia’s pioneering approach to sustainable OER publishing, Clemson University Press recently established an imprint to publish open textbooks in collaboration with the Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries (PASCAL), the statewide library consortium. Named after PASCAL’s affordable-learning program, SCALE (South Carolina Affordable Learning), the imprint provides an avenue for authors from any of the consortium’s fifty-six member institutions to publish open textbooks through Clemson. This panel brings together representatives from both sides of the Georgia and South Carolina OER publishing initiatives, who will recount how the collaborations came to fruition, identify the challenges they encountered (in areas such as getting initial buy-in, advocating for funding, and maintaining sustainability), and offer practical guidance for overcoming them. Ultimately, these partnerships offer replicable models for open textbook publishing in states lacking dedicated OER funding based around engaging a larger community of librarians and university presses in collaboration.