The University of Nebraska Press will soon begin handling the publication, distribution and marketing of books released by The Jewish Publication Society.

The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska approved purchase of JPS inventory during its Sept. 9 meeting. The JPS Board of Trustees approved the collaborative agreement Sept. 13.

JPS will continue its 120-year-old mission as an independent, not-for-profit publisher of Jewish books of enduring worth, including the Jewish Bible (TANAKH). The Society will concentrate exclusively on content production of such manuscripts.

University of Nebraska Press Director Donna Shear said the agreement was a good fit for both publishers.

“The University of Nebraska Press has a long history of publishing works of outstanding Jewish scholarship,” she said. “To join forces with such a well-respected and prestigious publisher of Jewish books will further distinguish the University of Nebraska Press in the field of Jewish studies.”

The University of Nebraska Press has two series devoted to Jewish studies – Jewish Writing in the Contemporary World and Comprehensive History of the Holocaust. UNP titles have won numerous National Jewish Book Awards, most recently in 2009 for The Holocaust in the Soviet Union, by Yitzhak Arad; and in 2004 for The Origins of the Final Solution: Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942, by Christopher R. Browning. Additionally, the University of Nebraska Press is the publisher of many works of Jewish fiction, memoir and other trade titles.

The agreement will become effective Jan. 1, 2012. JPS CEO Rabbi Barry Schwartz will continue to acquire new JPS titles, while the University of Nebraska Press will handle production of those titles, including design, editing, typesetting and printing, as well as sales and marketing. The University of Nebraska Press will also handle warehousing and distribution of the JPS backlist. Schwartz said he believed the agreement would help JPS titles reach a wider audience.

“The Jewish Publication Society is excited to work with a distinguished university press that shares our commitment to publishing works of enduring worth in general and serious studies of Jewish history and thought in particular. We look forward to introducing both new and classic JPS titles to an expanded circle of scholars and general readers alike. In today’s fast changing world, collaboration is the way forward, and we know this collaboration will reap benefits not only to both publishing houses, but to all our authors and readers.”

The Jewish Publication Society: Founded in 1888, The Jewish Publication Society is the preeminent publisher of classic and contemporary Jewish texts for readers of English worldwide. The current list includes nearly 300 scholarly and popular works of history, philosophy, ethics, and theology. JPS is best known for its acclaimed Bible commentary, and the most widely read English translation of the Hebrew Bible, the JPS TANAKH. For more information, visit www.jps.org.

About the University of Nebraska Press: Founded in 1941, the University of Nebraska Press is a nonprofit scholarly and general interest press that publishes 160 new and reprint titles annually under the Nebraska and Bison Books imprints respectively, along with 20 journals. As the largest and most diversified university press between Chicago and California, with nearly 3,000 books in print, the University of Nebraska Press is best known for publishing works in Indigenous studies, history and literature of the American West, translated literature, and sports history.