West Virginia University signs up to the OLH

We're extremely pleased to announce that West Virginia University has become a member of the Open Library of Humanities' Library Partnership Subsidy system. As a land-grant institution in the 21st century, WVU aims to deliver high-quality education, excel in discovery and innovation, model a culture of diversity and inclusion, promote health and vitality, and build pathways for the exchange of knowledge and opportunity between the state, the nation, and the world.

The Open Library of Humanities is an academic-led, gold open-access publisher with no author-facing charges. With initial funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the paltform covers the costs of the labour of publishing through a global library consortium so that authors do not have to pay. This model means that there are no fees for authors and no incentives for us to accept sub-par work.

Dr. Martin Paul Eve, a founder and academic project director of the OLH, welcomed West Virginia University: “It is wonderful that West Virginia University has signed up to the OLH LPS model. The benefits of open access for the humanities are clear. What is sometimes less clear is how we can fund it. Our model, with the support of institutions like West Virginia, proposes a new, more equitable way.”

Libraries outside the US and UK interested in joining the OLH Library Partnership Subsidy model should contact Dr. Martin Paul Eve: martin.eve@openlibhums.org. UK-based libraries will shortly be able to join through Jisc Collections. US-based libraries can join through LYRASIS at https://lyrasis.openlibhums.org.