U. of Missouri Press to Cut Nearly Half Its Staff

The University of Missouri Press will lay off seven of its 18 staff members in the coming weeks, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Dwight Browne, the press’s interim director, confirmed the news in an interview with The Chronicle but denied that problems stemming from the recession were to blame.

According to Mr. Browne, sales are down, as they are for “anyone that’s selling anything” except the bare necessities, but neither the sagging economy nor pressure from the university administration brought about the layoffs. When the press’s previous director retired, the time seemed right “to take a close look at everything and see if there were areas where we could improve efficiency,” he said.

Mr. Browne does not expect the cuts to affect authors or customers. The press will publish fewer books next year — probably 40 or so, down from 48 this year — as the remaining staff gets used to the slimmer operating model. After that, he anticipates that the list will return to its usual size, and to keep its focus on regional books, journalism-related titles, and series such as “Mark Twain and His Circle.”

For those who have been looking for signs that university presses are on the brink of collapse, the director had a cautionary note. “Whenever something like this happens, there’s concern that it’s the first step toward the end, and it’s really not,” Mr. Browne said. “This reorganization will help us be a stronger operation in the future, and we’ll be here because of it.” —Jennifer Howard