WSU Press Open House Planned Feb. 13 to Celebrate Move to WSU Libraries

WSU Press will hold an open house from 3-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in Holland Library’s old first-floor lobby (adjacent to the Dimensions Lab) to celebrate its move to WSU Libraries. A reception follows in Terrell Library, suite 120.

Three Pacific Northwest authors will share their expertise and experiences in a panel:

Originally released in 1986 as Renegade Tribe, the WSU Press book authored by Clifford Trafzer and Richard Scheuerman was the first major work published on the Palouse Indians and received the Washington State Book Award. In 2016, the press updated the book with a new title, The Snake River-Palouse and the Invasion of the Inland Northwest, and a new foreword by Chief Tilcoax descendant Wilson Wewah.
  • Retired Seattle Pacific University associate professor Richard D. Scheuerman: Scheuerman holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Gonzaga University, a master’s degree in history from Pacific Lutheran University, and a bachelor’s degree in history and education from WSU. The co-author of more than 10 books on Pacific Northwest history, Scheuerman has received the Washington State Historical Society’s Robert Gray Medal and the Washington Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
  • Ecologist, photographer, and writer Thomas Bancroft: Recipient of the 2020 Mountaineers Service Award, Bancroft holds a doctorate in biology and a master’s degree in zoology, both from the University of South Florida. His research focused on birds and their conservation. Bancroft writes regularly for The Mountaineers, Washington Ornithological Society, Audubon chapters, and the Methow Naturalist. His photographs have appeared in numerous books and publications, as well as at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.
  • Teacher, naturalist, and nonfiction writer Jack Nisbet: Nisbet is the author of several collections of essays that explore the human and natural history of the Pacific Northwest and has also written award-winning biographies of cartographer David Thompson and naturalist David Douglas. In 2018, the Washington State Historical Society presented Nisbet with the Robert Gray Medal for distinguished and long-term contributions to Pacific Northwest history.

Last fall, WSU Press moved from University Marketing and Communications to the WSU Libraries when budget cuts within UMC threatened the press’ continued operation, potentially putting an end to its nearly 100-year history. To learn more about the move, please read this article.

WSU Press published Thomas Bancroft’s Beyond the Wonder: An Ecologist’s View of Wild Alaska in 2024, a travel account and meditation on nature that also offers a biological perspective on Alaska’s wonders, a discussion of tourism’s potential environmental impacts, and a collection of dynamic photographs.

WSU Provost Chris Riley-Tillman and WSU Libraries’ Interim Dean Trevor Bond decided to combine the press and libraries. In the last several months, Bond and WSU Press Editor-in-Chief Linda Bathgate have found ways to reduce costs and are identifying other funding sources as well as incorporating more press events within the libraries.

David Douglas, A Naturalist at Work: An Illustrated Exploration Across Two Centuries in the Pacific Northwest, written by Jack Nisbet and published by WSU Press in 2024, is a collection of essays examining various aspects of Douglas’ career while also shedding light on the area’s people and landscapes.

Future goals include facilitating book sales at the libraries and around campus; holding author events around the region and the state; and offering presentations about publishing with library colleagues.

“The press is extraordinarily fortunate to have become part of the WSU Libraries,” Bathgate said. “We want to optimize this relationship through book talks, presentations, and events highlighting the ways in which WSU Press and the libraries support the university’s land-grant mission and provide the region with key resources for study and research. Our library colleagues have been tremendously supportive, and we have only just begun to collaborate. I see a very bright future ahead.”

What is now WSU Press started as a scholarly publishing division of Washington State College in the 1920s, primarily to distribute faculty research. In the late 1980s, the relaunched press began releasing titles centered on regional history. One of those, Renegade Tribe, was the first major work published on the Palouse Indians and received the Washington State Book Award. Since then, the press has published some 260 titles and received numerous honors and awards.

To learn more about the WSU Press, please visit the website or contact Linda Bathgate.