The Future Isn’t Textbook: A View of the Textbook Publishing Landscape

The program is a brief overview of the complex relationship between the textbook publishing industry and the current academic and learning environment, including the impact the pandemic has had on the changing expectations of faculty and students. Presenters will discuss open educational resources, inclusive access textbooks, affordable learning initiatives, and the library’s critical role in navigating these landscapes.Participants will develop a familiarity with historical and current models of textbook publishing. Gain an understanding of the relationship between inclusive access publishing, open educational resources, and the current higher education landscape. Understand the ways in which libraries and librarians can play a critical role in ensuring affordable access to course materials for students.

Rachel Rubin is the Associate University Librarian for Research and Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. She has a Ph.D. in Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions from Simmons University and an MLIS from Kent State University. Prior to her work in academic libraries, she spent twelve years as a public librarian and library director. She has been active in the American Library Association, the Ohio Library Council, and presents around the country on the topics of healthy organizational cultures and managerial leadership. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband, toddler, two cats, two rabbits, and nine bicycles. 

Dr. Richard Rubin has had the pleasure of working in the Ohio library community for more than 40 years. He started as a reference librarian at the main library of the Akron-Summit County Public Library in Akron, Ohio. After several years he became an administrator, serving as the library’s Director of Personnel. After work at Akron, and some additional schooling, he went into university teaching, becoming a faculty member and eventually Director of the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University where he worked for more than 25 years. Dr. Rubin has been active in ALA and the OLC and offered programs on the regional, state, and national level in the areas of human resources management and the ethics and values of our field. He has authored numerous books and articles in these areas as well. He is purportedly retired although he continues to do some writing and serves on his local public library’s Board of Trustees and on the Board of the Ohio Library Council.