The Swarthmore College Libraries are founding members of Lever Press, a publisher of digital open access academic books that are free for readers and free from author publishing fees. Lever was founded by a group of liberal arts college libraries in 2010 as a way for smaller institutions to actively participate in academic publishing, with a sustainable publishing model based on contributions from member libraries. Like other online open access books, Lever books encourage wide readership and dissemination of scholarship by making reading and reuse completely free to anyone worldwide. You can learn more about the history of Lever in this article co-authored by Anne Houston, Director of the Swarthmore Libraries and member of the Lever Oversight Committee. 

Readers curious about Lever’s books can start with the work of two Swarthmore faculty members. Betsy Bolton, Professor of English, has recently published In the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon: Happiness, History, and Environment in a Changing Bhutan. This exploration of the history, politics, and culture of Bhutan has been accessed almost 3,000 times by readers in over 120 countries. Jean-Vincent Blanchard, Professor of French, co-authored the La Princesse de Clèves by Lafayette: A New Translation and Bilingual Pedagogical Edition for the Digital Age, published in 2022. This unique digital translation of the first modern French novel provides innovative interactive features to enhance pedagogy, and has been accessed over 30,000 times since publication. 

For more information about publishing with Lever, contact Anne Houston at ahousto3@swarthmore.edu. Lever also welcomes faculty from contributing institutions to express interest in serving on its Editorial Board.