AAUP Announces 2017 University Press Week Theme: “#LookItUP: Knowledge Matters”

The Association of American University Presses (AAUP) has chosen “#LookItUP: Knowledge Matters” as the theme for the sixth annual University Press Week (UP Week), which runs this year from November 6 through November 11.

According to AAUP Executive Director Peter Berkery, university presses, which publish approximately 14,000 books and more than 1,100 journals each year, help reassert the indispensability of expertise and knowledge in a time when the effects of “fake news” proliferate.

“University presses publish the most important scholarship in every field, from politics and journalism to science and religion,” said Berkery. “Facts, knowledge, and expertise are our lifeblood, and the increasing number of people questioning their validity is highly disturbing. Knowledge does matter, expertise does matter, and we want to promote these truths as much as possible.”

UP Week 2017 will feature online celebrations of this year’s theme via a blog tour and a new #ReadUP channel on Medium. AAUP will also partner with Ingram, NetGalley, and Baker & Taylor, which will mark the week online through special messages and marketing. The association will also host panels on the theme at both the Texas Book Festival and the Boston Book Festival this fall.

This year, AAUP member presses will also team up with brick-and-mortar bookstores, libraries, and other venues across the U.S. to share the values of “Knowledge Matters” with the public, including New York City’s Book Culture, which will host a panel on publishing on November 8 with cooperation from university presses. In addition, more than 30 university presses will take part in promotions for the 2017 celebration of Indies First on Small Business Saturday (November 25), with special offers for indie booksellers on an array of frontlist and backlist titles.

According to AAUP President Nicole Mitchell, the idea that knowledge and expertise are something to be respected is one that is universally of concern to the AAUP’s 143 member presses.

“We believe that in choosing this year’s theme for University Press Week, we’ll be able to make more people around the world aware of our work and its value in a free society,” Mitchell said.

Booksellers are encouraged to use the hashtags #LookItUp and #ReadUP to post about UP Week on social media, and to subscribe to the AAUP’s #RoundUP e-mail list for more information on UP Week as it approaches. Details for all online and offline UP Week events can be viewed at the University Press Week website, which will be updated over the coming weeks.