VIVA’s Print on Demand Service
2026 Library Publishing Showcase Week: Innovating and Adapting
VIVA’s Print on Demand Service
Published by VIVA, Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium
VIVA’s e-commerce site provides print versions of OER created by VIVA and other books from VIVA member libraries for sale at cost, or the cost to print and run the website, plus shipping. No profit is made by VIVA or its member institutions. Most books are also available for free online, with links included in the book’s record.
Impact
The site allows us to track book purchases, so we can see how many people are using the book in print and where it is being adopted. Even without capturing digital uses, we’ve been excited to see the high demand for our OER in both Virginia and across the country!
Why library publishing
At VIVA, we try to level the playing field of higher education in Virginia. As a library publishing program, our ecommerce site allows us to live this work in practice by ensuring that students have the resources they need for class, in a format that best meets their needs, at a reasonable cost. So far, our books have been under $20. Further, by focusing on users rather than sales, we’re a great fit for print-on-demand. This method reduces overhead print run and warehousing costs, maximizing savings for consumers, and ensures that books will be available no matter how many orders are placed.