The University of Washington Press has published approximately 4,400 books, of which about 1,400 are currently in print. Today we publish about seventy new titles each year, achieving recognition as a leading publisher of scholarly books.
The University of Washington Press maintains close ties with other university publishers. As a member of the Association of American University Presses since 1947, the Press has hosted national and regional meetings, and its staff has participated actively in Association programs.
In recent years, the Press has established copublishing and distribution relationships with a growing list of museums, university presses in Canada, China, Australia, and other institutions throughout the world. This activity enables us to give worldwide distribution to many valuable publications. Mindful of the shrinking world, the University of Washington Press has long placed special emphasis on our role in the two-way exchange of knowledge and information internationally.
The books that bear our imprint are among the University's most significant ambassadors to the outside world. They are distributed through overseas marketing consortia and copublishing arrangements, and many have been translated into more than ten languages. We were in the vanguard of publishers who established reciprocal ties with the People's Republic of China and Russia. We eagerly anticipate the challenges of the next decades. As new technology makes possible almost limitless access to information and data, our traditional role as "gatekeepers" of quality in the publication of scholarship is sure to assume even greater importance. At the same time, we are committed to developing new ways of serving our university, our region, and the world beyond.
Although the Press is an integral division of the University, it operates with considerable autonomy. Like most other book publishers, it has no printing facilities. Composition, printing, and binding are purchased under contract. The Press is not involved with production of the University's magazines, newspapers, bulletins, or catalogues. As a nonprofit cultural organization, its sole function is to find, develop, select, and publish scholarship of high quality and enduring value.
