Centering Community: Living Our Values

Wednesday, July 30, 2025, 11 a.m. ET

In this session you can learn more about the Community Supported Technologies and Hosting Services (CSTHS) strategic charge and the work underway in key areas for the Organizational Home and in Hosting Services.

Attendees will learn and be invited to discuss:

• Our overall strategy to build programs for the community and the realignment of systems and services to increase impact;
• Organizational Home efforts to clarify values, analyze areas for improvements and refinement, and explore interoperability for collective growth; and
• Efforts to assess and enhance hosting services and ensure contributions benefit the larger communities using those open-source technologies.

The session will include a general Q&A and breakout rooms for those interested in learning more about the efforts of the Organizational Home or the Hosting team.

Speakers include:

• Bridget Almas, Director of Operations for Community Supported Technologies
• Laurie Arp, Senior Director, Community Supported Technologies and Hosting Services (CSTHS)
• Melissa Anez, Manager of Open Technologies Outreach
• Marcella Huggard, Hosting Services Onboarding Coordinator

Evaluating Potential New Vendors and Partners

Wednesday, August 6, 2025, 1 p.m. ET

Join this webinar to learn how the Lyrasis Content and Scholarly Communication Initiatives (CSCI) department evaluates prospective new vendors and partners, deciding whether to bring them into our expansive portfolio of offers. CSCI works with over 120 vendors and publishers, with more frequently seeking to join. CSCI has developed an evaluative framework and assessment tools to guide our decision-making, which is grounded in our values and mission as well as the values and needs of the Lyrasis member community. CSCI strategists will discuss how we approach decision-making, and we will reveal how our evaluations work in practice through our practical applications of the framework and recent partnership decisions. This will be an interactive discussion with plenty of opportunities for questions and feedback.

Speakers include:

• Christy Urquieta Cortes (she/hers), Strategist, Content & Scholarly Communication Initiatives
• Michael Rodriguez (he/him), Lead Strategist for Program Operations, Content & Scholarly Communication Initiatives

Ebooks & Community Engagement at Lyrasis: Empowering Libraries to Shape the Future of Ebooks

Wednesday, August 13, 2025, 2 p.m. ET

Launched in Spring of 2023, Lyrasis’ Ebooks and Community Engagement (EBCE) division was established to address growing trends and challenges identified in the econtent market. Composed of BiblioBoard, The Indie Author Project and The Palace Project, EBCE aims to provide libraries with a range of solutions, including: sustainable access to ebooks via unique licensing opportunities, community engagement tools, library-driven platforms, and ongoing initiatives to bridge the gap between libraries and publishers.

In this session, we’ll discuss the following:

• How our programs work together to improve the econtent market
• How foundational infrastructure like The Palace Project supports libraries of all types
• Lyrasis’ role in leading this community-driven effort to connect libraries, patrons, local authors, publishers, and distributors

Attendees will hear from key team members on platform development, vendor integrations, and publishing partnerships. This session is intended for current Lyrasis members and prospective partners alike.

Speakers include:

• Michael Atwood, Senior Director, Ebooks & Community Engagement
• Carissa Egan, Director of Operations, Ebooks & Community Engagement
• James English, Director of Business Development, Ebooks & Community Engagement
• Micah May, Director of Business Development, Ebooks & Community Engagement
• Roy Serrao, Senior Library Consultant, Ebooks & Community Engagement