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.

The Open Book Futures project is co-funded by Arcadia and Research England Development (RED) Fund (UKRI). Arcadia is a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge. Since 2002 Arcadia has awarded more than $1 billion to organizations around the world. Research England Development (RED) Fund (UKRI) is a fund supporting institutional-level innovative projects in research and knowledge exchange including collaborations between education providers and between education providers and business.