Registered number
14118614
Open Access Book Collective
Accounts
31 October 2024
Open Access Book Collective
Accountants' Report
Report to the directors on the preparation of the unaudited statutory accounts of Open Access Book Collective for the period ended 31 October 2024
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the accounts of Open Access Book Collective for the period ended 31 October 2024 which comprise of the Profit and Loss Account and the Balance Sheet from the company’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.
As a practising member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/about-us/regulation/rulebook.html
This report is made solely to the Board of Directors of Open Access Book Collective, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the accounts of Open Access Book Collective and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the Board of Directors of Open Access Book Collective, as a body, in this report in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at http://www.accaglobal.com/factsheet163. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Open Access Book Collective and its Board of Directors as a body for our work or for this report.
It is your duty to ensure that Open Access Book Collective has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory accounts that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of Open Access Book Collective. You consider that Open Access Book Collective is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the period.
We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the accounts of Open Access Book Collective. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory accounts.
Cambridge Tax and Accounting Limited
Chartered Certified Accountants
Brookfields
2A Water Lane
Histon
Cambridge
CB24 9LR
8 January 2025
Open Access Book Collective
Directors' Report
Report of the directors of Open Access Book Collective for the period ended 31 October 2024
Introduction
The period documented by this report covers the period since the confirmation (on 19 December 2023) that the application by the Open Book Collective (OBC) to be registered as a charity by the Charity Commission of England and Wales was accepted:
https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.caf1d303
The 31 October 2024 end date of the period was chosen as it aligns with the reporting requirements for the Copim Open Book Futures project:
https://copim.pubpub.org/open-book-futures-project
Governance & Staffing
The Open Book Collective remains established as a charitable Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) and a UK registered charity. It is governed by the OBC Board of Stewards, which are elected by members and act as the charity’s Trustees. During the period, two Stewards stepped down from the Board. Cheryl Ball stepped down as one of our OA Expert Stewards due to other work commitments, and Andrea Hacker, another of our OA Expert Stewards, did not renew her term due to her institution, Bern University, becoming an OBC member, meaning she could not have remained an ‘independent’ representative. We offer our sincere thanks to Cheryl and Andrea for their contributions to the OBC.
The period saw the OBC convene its second Annual General Assembly of Custodians. This took place on 11 September 2024:
https://openbookcollective.pubpub.org/pub/tjbb7k24
During the meeting, members voted to elect and re-elect Stewards to the board. Results of this election included the following:
Holly Limbert (Derby University): Elected, acting as an independent OA Expert
Reggie Raju (University of Cape Town Libraries): Re-elected, acting as an independent OA Expert, having previously representing the Service Provider Caucus
Amanda Ramalho (SciELO Books): Re-elected, acting as an independent OA Expert
During the period, the board met 4 times, as follows:
10 January 2024
10 April 2024
26 April 2024
09 October 2024
Staffing remains unchanged during the period. OBC employees include:
Francesca Corazza: Product Manager
Kevin Sanders: Open Access Engagement Lead
Francesca and Kevin continued to act as the OBC Secretariat, which supports the OBC’s Committees and governance functions. Many thanks to both Kevin and Francesca for all their work.
Thanks also to our colleagues seconded from partner organisations to the OBC, as part of the Copim Open Book Futures project. This includes Livy Synder (punctum), who leads much of our engagement in North America, Izabella Penier (Lancaster University), who leads our publisher and service provider engagement, and Judith Fathallah (Lancaster University), who leads our research work and work on the Collective Development Fund.
New Members
The OBC ended the 2024 financial year with a total of 79 Library Members, acting as supporting institutions, with a total of 14 Publisher and Service Provider Members. During the period, the following members joined the Open Book Collective:
New Library Members
Bath Spa University (08/08/24)
Bern University (27/11/23)
Birmingham City University (11/06/24)
Brock University (23/02/24)
Flinders University (20/03/24)
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (23/01/24)
McMaster University (14/12/23)
National Library of Finland (12/05/23)
National Library of Scotland (15/07/24)
National Library of Sweden (01/02/24)
Oxford University, Bodleian Libraries (16/01/24)
Philips Universität Marburg (05/12/23)
Rollins College (04/04/24)
Royal Danish Library (08/11/23)
Technische Universität Berlin (07/02/24)
Tilburg University (1/12/23)
Université de Montreal (25/04/24)
University of Basel (04/01/24)
University of Bergen (22/11/23)
University of Bristol (02/06/23)
University College London (10/07/24)
CDL (14/06/24)
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Merced
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Francisco
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Office of the President (UCOP)
University of Edinburgh (08/05/24)
University of Groningen (08/08/24)
University of Leeds (24/09/24)
University of Leicester (27/02/24)
University of Loughborough (12/07/23)
University of Montreal (24/04/24)
University of Southampton (11/09/24)
University of St.Gallen (07/11/23)
University of Texas at Austin (25/07/24)
University of Western Ontario (26/10/23)
University of Western Australia (11/05/23)
University of Wollongong (12/06/23)
Utrecht University (05/07/24)
York University, Canada (22/02/24)
Villanova University (20/03/24)
Vrije Universitait Amsterdam (03/10/23)
Zurich University (12/12/23)
New Publisher Members
University of London Press (24/01/24)
Leuven University Press (10/01/24)
University of Westminster Press (24/01/24)
New Service Provider Members
Public Knowledge Project (04/09/24)
Outreach & outputs
A significant part of the OBC’s work is engaging with the scholarly community, with a particular focus on academic publishers and university libraries. As part of the Open Book Futures project, colleagues working to support the OBC contributed to a range of events and outputs, in which they explored issues related to the OBC’s aim to support a fairer, more sustainable future for OA book publishing. We have also refined our social media engagement work, including maintaining our presence on Mastodon, launching on Bluesky, and deprioritising posting on X.
A sense of the broad ambitions of this work is provided in the first report to supporters, published on 29 February 2024. We will repeat this report next February.
https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.3db1e0a1
Since February, the OBC has been involved in numerous other outreach activities. These include:
Events & conference papers
11 Jan 2024 - Open Access and Global South Scholars: Needs, Experiences, Barriers; Lancaster University, Southern Women Academic Network:
https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.b423d75c
22 Jan 2024 - OBC Information Hub and Collective Development Fund scoping workshop; punctum, White Horse Press, Mattering Press, African Minds, Westminster University Press, University of London Press, Leuven University Press, DOAB/OAPEN, Thoth, OBP, meson press, mediastudies.press
7-9 Feb 2024 - Towards Sustainable Open Access Book Publishing in the African Context; University of Cape Town Library, University of Cape Town Press, African Platform for Open Scholarship, Association of African Universities, Lancaster University, punctum books, DOAB/OAPEN, Thoth, OBC, Mattering Press:
https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.c8fbbc53
13 Mar 2024 - Introducing the OBC to IReL members (Irish Library Consortium)
17 Apr 2024 - Evaluating Evaluation Criteria for OA Book Publishers. Project Muse, OpenEdition. African Platform for Open Scholarship, SciELO Books, DOAB, Opening the Future, JSTOR, Thoth, AG Universitätsverlage, University of Georgia Press/AUPresses Fulcrum:
https://katinamagazine.org/content/article/open-knowledge/2024/how-should-we-evaluate-open-access-book-publishing
24 Apr 2024 - How To Facilitate Horizontal Collaboration Between Community-Led Infrastructures for Equitable and Bibliodiverse Futures for Open Access Books? OPERAS conference, Zadar, Croatia. Lucy Barnes, Niels Stern, Rupert Gatti, Toby Steiner, Kevin Sanders.
01 May 2024 - Bridging Altruism to Strategy in OA Book Publishing – How Libraries Can Close Funding Gaps to Support a Bibliodiverse Global Shared Collection, University of Delaware Publishing, University of Arizona Libraries, University of Alberta, Iowa State University Digital Press.
03 Jul 2024 - Evaluation and Assessment of Diamond Open Access Book Initiatives: Challenges and Opportunities. Deville, Joe; Sanders, Kevin; Stern, Niels; Trentacosti, Giulia. LIBER 2024 Pre-conference workshop:
https://openbookcollective.pubpub.org/pub/liber-2024/release/1
12 Sep 2024 - Sustainable Community-Led Open Access Beyond the BPC, Joe Deville. Association of Learned Society Publishers Annual Conference and Awards 2024
16 Sep 2024 - Can Scaling Small Scale? Lessons Learned From Building Community-led Infrastructures for Open Access Book Publishing; Contributors: Deville, Joe; Adema, Janneke; Barnes, Miranda; Steiner, Toby; Grady, Tom; Hillen, Hannah; Hopkins, Kira; Kiesewetter, Rebekka; Sanders, Kevin
OASPA 2024 Conference, Lisbon:
https://zenodo.org/records/13694568
17 Sep 2024 - Choosing Open Access for Books as a Precarious Scholar
Judith Fathallah, OASPA 2024 Conference, Lisbon
17 Sep 2024 - Precarity in scholar-led & marginalized open access publishing
Joe Deville, OASPA 2024 Conference, Lisbon
19 Sep 2024 - Crisis in HE and the future of Diamond Open Access, LSE, LSE UP, WP3
Other outreach
22 Jan 2024 - First Collective Development Funding Call to Open in April 2024:
https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.495490c0
12 Feb 2024 - Open Access and Global South Scholars: Needs, Experiences, Barriers. Workshop Report:
https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.b423d75c
October 2024 (accepted, pending publication) - [Journal article]. Hopkins, K. & Sanders, K. (2024). Open access, open infrastructures, and their funding: learning from histories to more effectively enhance Diamond OA ecologies for books. Journal of Librarianship & Scholarly Communication. 12(2).
Collective Development Fund
Considerable work has focused on launching the OBC Collective Development Fund. This fund is financed in 2024 and 2025 by the Open Book Futures project, with calls from 2026 onwards relying on financial contributions from OBC’s Publisher and Service Provider Members.
Significant milestones for the Collective Development Fund during the period included:
18 Mar 2024: Publishing the results of further scoping work on the needs and priorities of our stakeholder communities:
https://openbookcollective.pubpub.org/pub/collective-development-fund-grant-programme-scoping-update
16 Apr 2024: Launching the first OBC Collective Development Fund Call:
https://openbookcollective.pubpub.org/pub/obc-collective-development-fund-grant-programme-2024-call--guidance
23 Sep 2024: Reflecting on the outcomes of the call, for which the OBC received 35 applications in total, of which 8 applications advanced to full review:
https://openbookcollective.pubpub.org/pub/collective-development-fund-update-learning-from-our-first-assessment-process
We look forward to including information on the final awards in the next reporting period.
Funding & financial position
The OBC was supported through the present period by the Copim Open Book Futures project. The project covers the large majority of OBC’s current financial costs and will do until the end of the project on the 30th April 2026. During the period, we have begun work to prepare for the post-Open Book Futures period. This includes:
Developing post-project funding applications. This work is ongoing, with other Copim colleagues.
Developing post-project projections, should funding applications be unsuccessful. This shows that further funding would be required to sustain the OBC at current staffing levels. This could involve increasing our subscriber base and/or increasing the volume of support from existing subscribers. Our work in this respect is focusing particularly on achieving support from US institutions and consortia and on deepening our outreach within EU contexts.
Undertaking a full interim evaluation of the OBC model. We will report on this evaluation in the next financial period.
We look forward to providing further updates about the development of the OBC in next year’s report.
Prof. Joseph Deville
OBC Managing Director and Trustee
Approved by the board on 8 January 2025
Open Access Book Collective
Profit and Loss Account
for the period from 19 December 2023 to 31 October 2024
2024 2023
£ £
Turnover 44,476 19,844
Other income 229,487 141,385
Grants and donations (1,369) (415)
Gross profit 272,594 160,814
Staff and subcontractor costs (113,343) (54,855)
Other charges (66,033) (67,520)
Profit before taxation 93,218 38,439
Tax - (7,803)
Profit 93,218 30,636
Open Access Book Collective
Registered number: 14118614
Balance Sheet
as at 31 October 2024
2024 2023
£ £
Current assets 307,248 101,543
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (33,182) (35,190)
Net current assets 274,066 66,353
Total assets less current liabilities 274,066 66,353
Accruals and deferred income (144,231) (29,736)
Net assets 129,835 36,617
Capital and reserves 129,835 36,617
Number Number
Average number of employees 2 1
The company is a private company limited by guarantee and incorporated in England. Its registered office is One Bartholomew Close, London, EC1A 7BL.
The directors are satisfied that the company is entitled to exemption from the requirement to obtain an audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.
The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Act.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the micro entity provisions of the Companies Act 2006 and FRS 105, The Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the Micro-entities Regime. The accounts have been delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
Prof. Joseph Deville
Director
Approved by the board on 8 January 2025
Open Access Book Collective
Detailed profit and loss account items
for the period from 19 December 2023 to 31 October 2024
This schedule does not form part of the statutory accounts
2024 2023
£ £
Turnover
Fees from institutions 20,127 7,751
Fees from providers 24,349 11,157
Recharged expenses - 936
44,476 19,844
Other income
Development Fund contributions 20,387 8,340
Grants and donations 208,408 133,045
Interest receivable 692 -
229,487 141,385
Grants and donations
Collective Development Fund 1,369 415
Staff and subcontractor costs
Wages, pensions, social security and subcontractor costs 112,640 52,321
Payroll overheads 703 2,534
113,343 54,855
Other charges
General administrative expenses:
Admin 494 13
Bank charges/(cashback) (172) 97
Conferences/events 6,628 4,443
Equipment - 483
IT Costs 1,391 188
Legal and accounting 13,336 6,585
Network engagement 10,000 10,000
OBC board translations 1,404 -
Platform development 20,000 40,000
Travel and subsistence 13,821 6,547
Exchange gains (869) (836)
66,033 67,520
66,033 67,520
Open Access Book Collective
Detailed balance sheet items
as at 31 October 2024
This schedule does not form part of the statutory accounts
2024 2023
£ £
Current assets
Trade debtors 94,840 8,060
Cash at bank 212,408 93,483
307,248 101,543
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Trade creditors 2,776 139
Platform providers 27,291 21,870
Corporation tax - 9,206
Other creditors 3,115 3,975
33,182 35,190
Accruals and deferred income
Deferred income 144,231 29,736
Capital and reserves
Profit and loss account 129,835 36,617
Profit and loss account
Brought forward 36,617 5,981
Profit 93,218 30,636
129,835 36,617
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