CDL renews Opening the Future with CEU Press and LUP

Posted by Kira Hopkins on March 6, 2025 at 1221

CEU Press and Liverpool University Press are pleased to announce that nine University of California campuses have chosen to renew their support for Opening the Future for a second three-year term through the California Digital Library (CDL). 


At CEU Press, the participating libraries now have access to the East Meets West backlist package of timely titles about the historical context of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. They now also have unlimited, perpetual access to their initial backlist packages, which cover a range of topics around the history of communism, transitions to democracy and Central European history and culture.


At Liverpool University Press, the libraries have decided to continue their advocacy for Open Access by opting for the Supporters Package of the initiative. They now have unlimited, perpetual access to their initial subscription package of titles on Hispanic culture and language, literature, theory and history.


Kat Baier, Head of Sales, Marketing and Operations at CEU Press said ‘We are grateful for the ongoing investment from one of our most important supporters, which has enabled us to publish many books open access, and will continue to do so.’ Anthony Cond, Liverpool University Press CEO, added his sentiments that ‘this renewal marks CDL’s commitment to supporting equitable open access via sustainable publisher-librarian relationships. We are delighted by their ongoing support.’  


Miranda Bennett, Director of Shared Collections, California Digital Library: ‘We are pleased to continue our support of the Opening the Future program at Liverpool University Press and Central European University Press. UC libraries have continued both to enhance their research collections, and to support new OA publications on several topics. In doing so, we are supporting a sustainable, open, and equitable publishing ecosystem’.

We are very grateful to the CDL members for choosing to continue their support of Opening the Future at both participating publishers. Renewals like this enable Opening the Future to be a sustainable route to equitable open access. It gives publishers the necessary confidence to plan for a future in which collective funding enables more of their titles to be published openly, and in turn gives authors without the necessary funds for BPC to participate in open access.


The CDL members’ first round of support contributed significantly to what our publishers have already done via Opening the Future. Since 2020, they have published over 30 OtF-funded books, with several more on the way. In 2024 alone, these titles were read more than 12,000 times (figures from OAPEN), demonstrating the wider readership that open access enables.  


If you’d like to know more about Opening the Future and how the program can benefit your library, more details can be found on www.openingthefuture.net, and you can get in touch with us at OpeningTheFuture@copim.ac.uk 


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