Celebrate University Press Week Next Week

“…If we are to have a life of the mind, we need carriers of this life. University presses perform that essential function.” —Jay Parini

Taking place November 11-17, 2012, University Press Week highlights the extraordinary work of university presses and their many contributions to culture, the academy, and an informed society. University Press Week promises special events and readings at universities and in communities across the country, as well as online galleries of selected titles and other features.

The breadth of university press activities may surprise you. Consider these facts, gathered by the Association of American University Presses (AAUP), which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary:

• AAUP member presses produce more than 12,000 works per year, in both print and digital form.
  
  
• The AAUP membership alone comprises 133 scholarly presses, found in places ranging from Abilene to Toronto, from Kalamazoo to Hong Kong. While almost every major research university has a scholarly press, so too do many smaller institutions, and the collective range of topics covered is fascinating: everything from Christian thought to the geophysics of fracking, from forensic psychiatry to pre-Columbian history, and from poetry to the economics of food.
  
  
• University presses collaborate with each other, and with other institutions, in interesting and intrepid ways. Check out Project Euclid, a ground-breaking collaboration in mathematics; or the Archaeology of the Americas Digital Monograph Initiative, a joint project of six university presses; or explore the past (and present) through the Publishing the Long Civil Rights Movement project.
  
  
• Following the September 11th attacks, AAUP established its "Books for Understanding" program in recognition that scholarly presses publish knowledge that often cannot be found anywhere else. Now featuring a list of 85 need-to-know topics—and growing apace—the books represented provide deeply researched information on issues and events of international import. Whether the topic is North Korea or water rights in the Southwest, a university press book has the answers, and the questions, you are looking for.

University Press Week offers much to celebrate and much to follow, and we'd like you to join us. Visit this blog next week for posts about the importance of university presses and links to other presses who will also be offering testimonials. And feel free to share your own love for university presses in the comments or on social media using the hashtag #UPWeek.