Effective April 8, 2025, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) terminated the federal grant for “Next Generation Library Publishing: Pilot to Production” (Grant Application No. LG-254921-OLS-23).
Educopia, in partnership with Open Weave Consulting, Inc., Cast Iron Coding, California Digital Library, Stratos, and Janeway were initially awarded this grant in 2023. The central aim for this grant project was to expand digital infrastructure options for library publishing programs that are open source, community-led, and grounded in academic values.
The Big Ten Academic Alliance remains engaged in supporting the continued exploration and development of Meru — the open publishing platform emerging from the NGLP initiative. The BTAA pilot, facilitated through its Scholarly Publishing Peer Group, is actively evaluating Meru’s potential as a shared discovery layer for Big Ten library-published content. Collaborative work on the platform continues through existing and emerging partnerships.
“We are grateful for the initial support from IMLS and stand firmly with all organizations calling for the restoration of federal investment in academic and cultural infrastructure,” said Sarah Lippincott, Co-PI and Project Director for NGLP. “At the same time, we are moving forward with a strong network of partners dedicated to advancing open, community-driven publishing solutions.”
Meru is also included in the Partnership for Open Publishing project, an initiative working to advance open access publishing across the University of North Carolina system.
Educopia’s mission is to connect diverse knowledge communities with resources, power, and each other. We stand with the American Library Association’s (ALA) call to action to IMLS Acting Director Keith E. Sonderling and members of Congress to continue IMLS grants and return IMLS staff to their positions.
We express our support and sincerest gratitude to IMLS staff. IMLS, NEH, and NEA provide key resources to American people, including scholarships, teaching and learning activities, and programming that contribute to this nation’s cultural heritage, economy, education, and research. These cuts will have massive and material impacts, disproportionately harming underserved communities across the country. For more resources, please visit:
- American Alliance of Museums Advocacy Page
- National Council of Nonprofit’s A Nonprofit Checklist: What to do When Your Federal Grant or Contract is Terminated
- American Library Association: FAQ: Executive Order Targeting IMLS
About the Big Ten Academic Alliance
The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) is the nation’s premier higher education consortium, advancing collaboration across 19 world-class research universities. Through projects like the Meru pilot, the BTAA continues to champion sustainable, open, and community-led innovation in scholarly publishing.
For more information on the BTAA Scholarly Publishing initiative, visit BTAA Scholarly Publishing Resources.
About Educopia
Founded in 2006, Educopia is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering Consulting, Fiscal Sponsorship, and Research services to various knowledge communities, including universities, museums, libraries, archives, government agencies, professional consortia, grassroots groups, and other meta-organizations.
Educopia connects diverse knowledge communities with resources, power, and each other.