News & Updates
Hamilton College Joins Lever Press
By Reid Larson
February 11, 2016
Hamilton College recently joined with forty other small liberal arts colleges in supporting the launch of the Lever Press. The new academic press aims to acquire, develop, produce and disseminate a total of 60 new open-access titles by the end of 2020.
Lever Press will publish titles distinguished by three key features: editorial alignment with the mission and ethos of liberal arts colleges; a "platinum" approach to open access in which the pledging institutions rather than authors pay all publishing costs; and digitally native production processes designed to support innovative projects that go "beyond the book."
More About Lever Press
Lever Press Business Plan
"Open Access at Both Ends," Inside Higher Ed, January 8, 2016
"Reflections on Lever Press," Library Babel Fish, January 14, 2016
"An Interview with Lever Press," The Scholarly Kitchen, January 25, 2016
Lever Press by the Numbers
| 3 | Key Commitments |
Lever Press is distinguished by three key commitments:
- Editorial alignment with the mission and ethos of liberal arts colleges
- A “platinum” approach to open access in which the pledging, institutions rather than authors, pay all publishing costs
- Digitally-native production processes designed to support innovative projects that go “beyond the book”
| 40 | Liberal Arts College Libraries |
Forty institutions, including Hamilton College, have committed to creating and funding a new, peer-reviewed, open access, digital-first pathway for scholarship in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The pledging libraries are primarily from the Oberlin Group, a consortium of 80 libraries at America's top liberal arts colleges.
- Agnes Scott College
- Allegheny College
- Amherst College
- Atlanta University Center, Morehouse & Spelman Colleges
- Bard College
- Bates College
- Berea College
- Bowdoin College
- Carleton College
- Claremont Colleges
- Coe College
- College of St. Benedict/St. John University
- Denison University
- Earlham College
- Furman University
- Grinnell College
- Hamilton College
- Haverford College
- Kenyon College
- Knox College
- Lafayette College
- Lake Forest College
- Macalester College
- Middlebury College
- Oberlin College
- Rollins College
- Sewanee: The University of the South
- Skidmore College
- Smith College
- St. Lawrence University
- St. Olaf College
- Swarthmore College
- Trinity University
- Union College
- Ursinus College
- Vassar College
- Washington & Lee University
- Whitman College
- Williams College
- The College of Wooster
| 60 | Open Access Titles |
Lever Press aims to acquire, develop, produce, and disseminate a total of 60 open-access titles by the end of 2020.
| 3 | Areas of Interest |
The new press is particularly interested in projects that:
- Exhibit the deep commitment to interdisciplinarity that is native to smaller academic communities where faculty members daily collaborate across field boundaries. We are particularly interested in projects that connect perspectives from the sciences, arts, and humanities.
- Engage with major social issues facing our communities. Founded on strong moral and religious principles, liberal arts colleges are the location of important debates about the grand challenges that face our society which we hope to manifest in our publications.
- Blur the traditional lines between “research” and “teaching,” creating resources ideally suited for experiential learning environments. Liberal arts colleges have reinvented the pedagogy of engagement and our publications will reflect that commitment. Among other things, we are interested in projects curated by faculty members that involve undergraduates in the process of creation and highlight their contributions.
| 1,000,000 | Dollars Pledged |
Member institutions have committed to contributing one million dollars to the work of Lever Press over the next five years.
| 2 | Publishing Partners |
Michigan Publishing and the Amherst College Press will guide the Lever Press operations. The Press will receive direction from an oversight committee of librarians elected by the pledging institutions and an editorial board of distinguished senior faculty responsible for vetting and approving publications.
