Tweet

Rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

• • 

COLUMBIA - "The Coalition To Save The Missouri Press" will hold a back-to-school rally at the MU Memorial Union Tuesday at 2 p.m.

The rally is set to feature readings by press authors and other activities. The group has come out in protest following a decision by system president Tim Wolfe to close The University of Missouri Press in May.

Lois Huneycutt, an MU associate professor who helped organize the event, told the Columbia Missourian one focus of the event is to inform members of the MU Faculty Council before they vote on the final resolution of the press Thursday.

The press currently employs 10 people. The university has pledged to work with employees to find other positions or allow them to reapply for the news press set-up, but admits some will be laid off.

The press is set to become an entirely digital publishing organization with a focus on a student lab opportunity. It will be overseen by Speer Morgan, the current editor of the literary magazine, "The Missouri Review". According to the news release announcing the press' closing, the 2,000 books the press publishes now will be digitized. The new press will now publish approximately 25 hard-copy books per year.

The University of Missouri Press was created in 1958.