The new editor in chief of the Penn State University Press is faced with tenure-seeking professors clamoring for publication, librarians nationwide who can't afford to buy his books and an industry in major upheaval.

While professors at universities across the country are trying to publish works to achieve tenured positions, many university presses are facing monetary pressures that keep them from publishing at a higher rate.

"Things like tenure requirements keep going up, and universities demand that professors publish monographs [scholarly texts]," Patrick Alexander, editor in chief, said. "And yet it becomes increasingly expensive to publish monographs."

Penn State literature professor Michael Bérubé helped draft a Modern Language Association (MLA) report last year addressing the scarcity of publishing options open to tenure-bound professors. Most liberal arts institutions require professors to present published works to gain tenure.

Although the supply of prospective publications has skyrocketed, press directors say the demand for their purchase has plummeted as cash-strapped libraries are making do with fewer new books every year. Holly Carver, director of the University of Iowa Press, cited decreased library sales and increasing pressure from wholesalers as the greatest fiscal challenges in a "increasingly challenging and competitive marketplace."

Leary said while her press might have sold 2,000 copies of a monograph years ago, they may now only sell 600.

"[Libraries] just don't need very many in print form because of a lot of changes," she said. "In classes, instead of assigning a lot of books, professors might be more likely now to put things on electronic reserve."

Bérubé said in January that the publishing requirement has placed an extraordinary burden on university presses, which are receiving more submissions for publication than their budgets can afford.

"The book standard is creeping all over places where it doesn't belong," he said.

Sheila Leary, director of the University of Wisconsin Press, agreed.

"There have been some articles written about the curiosity of the system that academic departments are relying on presses to make tenure decisions for them," she said.

Alexander said the problem lies in traditional models of publishing becoming more outdated.

"I think the most pressing challenge facing Penn State or any university publisher is the changing face of scholarly communications and the rising costs associated with that," Alexander said. "I think old models for publishing are becoming increasingly not viable, [and] it's up to the scholarly community to come up with some new models for publishing."

As library sales drop, presses are turning to their universities to help out with costs. Penn State subsidizes the University Press with $292,473, less than 15 percent of the program's total budget, which draws from book revenue, journal subscriptions and outside grants. Book University Press Director Sandy Thatcher said the allocation was instituted in 2004 to address budget shortfalls.

"Subsidies in the Big Ten presses range from three-quarters of a million to nothing," he said. "There are some presses that would get close to 50 percent of their budget from it. I think we're probably toward the lower end ... [but] it's not realistic to expect a higher subsidy."

A possible solution at Penn State could be in the Office of Digital Scholarly Publishing, which Alexander will lead in conjunction with co-chairman Michael Furlough. The office will coordinate the digitization of existing manuscripts and work to promote the spread of exclusively online scholarly works. Many have lauded digital media as an alternative to the costly and stock-intensive print publications; however, Alexander said access, not cost, is the primary concern.

"There's some savings; it's not as great as you might imagine," Alexander said. "The only place you're saving is on the pure manufacturing costs."

Alexander said if readers should want a physical copy of the publication, they will be able to order a copy from the University Press, which will print them on an "on-demand" basis.

Online publishing, still in its infancy, hasn't yet won everyone's complete confidence. Brenna McLaughlin, communications manager of the American Association of University Presses, said the online environment raises questions about copyright, especially when digitizing older works.

"The wider access that can be created is something that all university presses are excited about," she said. "But there are costs involved with that ... it's gotten more complicated."

Despite challenges, Alexander said integrating online content is essential to the industry's survival.

"It's very similar to the issues facing newspapers," he said. "Podcasts, RSS feeds and blogs are new forms of communication, and a generation of people who have grown up with computers are looking to the online world for most of their content. And we have to be in the position to give them that content."