As we look back at the activities of the University Press of Florida and UF Press in the past year (see our awards roundup here), we are sharing some of the community outreach activities that the Press has been involved with recently as part of our mission to bring works of global significance, regional importance, and lasting value to readers everywhere.
We installed a Little Free Library in May at the Repurpose Project in Gainesville. This Little Free Library is accessible for anyone to use during the Repurpose Project’s business hours. Press staff stock the library on a regular basis with books published by the Press on a variety of topics, and visitors to the library are encouraged to take a book and/or leave a book of their own for other readers to enjoy. Through this partnership, the Press is helping to promote literacy and lifelong learning in our local community. Learn more about the creation of the library on Instagram.
Our acquisitions coordinator Carlynn Crosby visited a local high school and introduced students to the work of book publishing as part of the National Education Association’s American Education Week, which took place November 13-19, 2022. Crosby participated in the Great American Teach-In day, on which members of the community are invited to talk about their career. We received many student responses to the talk, and we are sharing some of them here.
Why are books important to you? What have you learned about book publishing today?
“Books have the potential to change the attitudes of a person, a community, and with time, the world.”—Cecilia H.
“Learning about book publishing made me realize how important books are to me. They offer a wide variety of knowledge and shared experience, inspiring me to work hard and achieve my dreams.”—Sophia W.
“Books are important to me because they tell a story. Without the use of books, I would not have something to enjoy and gain knowledge from that expands what I already know.”—Alyssa F.
“Today I learned about the members of a publishing team needed to publish a scholarly book, including editors, graphic designers/artists, marketers, and finance professionals. Overall, I enjoyed learning more about career opportunities in publishing.”—Sammy S.
“Before today I knew virtually nothing about book publishing and all that it involves, but after learning about the occupation today I now know about the intricate aspects of the complex procedure of publishing a book, as well as how surprisingly long it can take for a book to fully complete the publication process.”—Hope M.
“I never realized that some authors supply just their outline to the publishing company before they have even started writing or compiling pictures for their book. Additionally, I did not know that many presses are responsible for selling the books they publish.”—Greyson F.
“I learned that book publishing is a much longer process than I expected, and that an author cannot just publish any type of book with any company they want to publish with. Books are important to me because both assigned books and unassigned books expand my knowledge and give me a distraction from the fast pace of life.”—Avery L.
“I love reading and it has been one of my hobbies since elementary school. Books are very special to me because they remind me of my childhood, and also, in my opinion, the feeling of reading a really good book is just incomparable.”—Madeline S.
Students interested in learning about book publishing can watch the video below, which our staff members created for a local elementary school’s career day.
High school and college students interested in pursuing a career in book publishing can watch a recording of our webinar Career Paths in Humanities, Public Engagement, and Publishing, which we hosted as part of our Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
If you are a member of our local community and would like to connect with the Press on behalf of a local group, organization, or school, email us at marketing[at]upress.ufl.edu.
The Florida Bookshelf 