Where is collective funding for open access monographs going?

Slide from a panel session on the first day of the Copim Conference 2026, a hybrid event (26-27 February) focusing on the future of community-led open access books. Panel members:

• Tom Grady (Chair)
• Kira Hopkins
• Katharina Baier
• Peter Barr

Abstract: The collective funding landscape for OA books has begun to mature. In 2021, when the Copim project, and other key open access funding infrastructures were in their early stages, there were open questions about the viability, sustainability and efficacy of collective funding models despite a few notable pioneers launching and maintaining successful programmes for several years prior to Copim (e.g. OBP, punctum books, OAPEN & DOAB, and the OLH). The subsequent 5 years began to answer some of these questions, while others have emerged; all within the context of a fast-changing landscape for HEIs globally. In this session, expert speakers from across the scholarly communications sector will discuss how funding OA books in this way fits into broader institutional goals, how the proliferation of collective funding models intersects with the wider problems and opportunities libraries and publishers face, and what the scholarly communication community thinks the future of these models will be.