Across Texas, 41 universities have joined forces as the Texas Library Coalition for United Action (TLCUA) to think creatively about access to faculty publications and the sustainability of journal subscriptions.

The goals of the Coalition are ambitious – improved access to scholarship, greater control over faculty content, and pricing models that are sustainable for strained library budgets in higher education.

The sustainability of providing scholarly research at ever-increasing costs is putting these academic libraries in difficult positions as they work to offer access to scholars on their campuses. 

The Coalition members agree that we are nearing a tipping point where we cannot continue under the current business model. We need solutions that benefit taxpayers, the professors who conduct research, publishers who disseminate research findings, and people around the world who benefit from research conducted in Texas.

The Coalition has begun its mission by entering into dialog with academic publisher Elsevier. They hope that through positive engagement and mutual understanding, an improved and sustainable model for the dissemination of scholarship can be achieved.

Elsevier is the world’s largest publisher of scholarly work, with 70 offices in 24 countries. It publishes 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, covering topics in medicine, biology, psychology, business and more. Elsevier has been involved in a number of negotiations with US universities recently. Read Elsevier’s statement on open access

The member institutions collectively represent an annual investment of more than $25 million in Elsevier publications. By these and other measures, the Coalition represents one of the largest and most diverse U.S. collective negotiation consortia of its kind.

The current members of the Texas Library Coalition for Collective Action are:

• Angelo State University
• Baylor University
• Lamar University
• Prairie View A&M University
• Rice University
• Sam Houston State University
• Stephen F. Austin University
• Sul Ross State University
• Tarleton State University
• Texas A&M International University
• Texas A&M University (College Station)
• Texas A&M University-Central Texas
• Texas A&M University-Commerce
• Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
• Texas A&M University-Kingsville
• Texas A&M University-San Antonio
• Texas A&M University-Texarkana
• Texas State University
• Texas Tech University (Lubbock)
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock
• The TMC Library
• The University of Texas at Arlington
• The University of Texas at Austin
• The University of Texas at Dallas
• The University of Texas at El Paso
• The University of Texas Permian Basin
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• The University of Texas at San Antonio
• The University of Texas at Tyler
• The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler
• West Texas A&M University
• University of Dallas
• University of Houston
• University of Houston Clear Lake
• University of Houston Downtown