Consortial and collective library publishing models provide a critical opportunity for libraries facing growing challenges, including funding cuts, the effect of AI on many aspects of the publishing process, new accessibility regulations, and the need to demonstrate value and impact. By working together, libraries can share infrastructure, expertise, and operational costs, making it possible to sustain publishing programs that would be difficult or impossible to run alone. Collective approaches also improve resilience, reduce duplication of effort, and amplify the visibility of library-published scholarship, especially critical in a political climate where diverse perspectives are being marginalized. To achieve the benefits of consortial publishing, shared infrastructure is essential. This session will provide updates on Meru, a unified display layer for library published content, specifically in the context of the consortial or collective publishing use case. Between 2024 and 2025, the Next Generation Library Publishing team and Cast Iron Coding completed a major new phase of Meru development, funded by IMLS, UNC Press, and the Big Ten Academic Alliance, with a strong focus on scalability, interoperability, and usability for library publishers. A new management system now allows Meru sites to be created, updated, and scaled much more easily, reducing technical overhead for hosting and long-term maintenance. Meru’s presentation layer was redesigned so that journals, books, and collections can be displayed using flexible layouts defined by configuration rather than custom code. This makes it far simpler to introduce new publication types or adjust how content appears. Additional improvements to search, performance, and editorial administration further enhance Meru as a sustainable, library-centered publishing platform. Participants will learn about how these new features and Meru’s flexible architecture provide a basis for building robust collective publishing programs, and how they can get involved.
