WATERLOO, ON—A recently published Integrated Planning and Resources Management report by Wilfrid Laurier University has advised the Wilfrid Laurier University Press (WLU) to phase out or minimize its services due to budgetary pressures. In response the WLU press has started a petition to fight the recommendation it calls “highly problematic.”

According to the WLU Press the group in charge of the recommendation was 86% staff and the WLU Press are not an administrative program within the university. They also state that the press puts Canada on an international platform and has already made changes to trim cost and embrace the digital delivery of scholarly materials. With the petition, WLU Press hopes to receive an opportunity to find a new model of sustainability rather than phasing out the service.

The WLU Press was established in 1974 and publishes in areas including but not limited to history, literature, sociology, religion and philosophy. The WLU Press does not print in-house; it uses a variety of commercial printers. The press publishes 30-35 titles a year and has 365 titles in print.

The petition is available here, for anyone to read and sign.