ALA Publishing Acquires Neal-Schuman Publishers
By Michael Kelley Dec 20, 2011The American Library Association (ALA) announced today that effective Dec. 23 Neal-Schuman Publishers, a leading independent publisher of professional books for librarians founded by John Vincent Neal and Patricia Glass Schuman in 1976, will become part of ALA Publishing.
According to an ALA announcement, ALA plans to relocate Neal-Schuman operations from New York City to Chicago over the next three months. Neal-Schuman will continue to maintain a separate product line and will offer print and electronic publications under its imprint.
Neal-Schuman, which also has offices in London, England, has more than 500 backlist titles in print. In addition, the company markets or copublishes some 200 books and monographs from Chandos Publications, Facet Books (the official imprint of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), the Medical Library Association and others.
The company's titles include the How-To-Do-It series, The Tech Set and many library science textbooks.
"Jack Neal and I are extremely proud of the company we have built over the last 36 years," said Neal-Schuman co-founder Pat Schuman in the ALA announcement. Schuman has served as both ALA president and treasurer. "We see ALA as a perfect home for Neal-Schuman, where the imprint can continue to grow and evolve, serving a new generation of librarians."
The ALA publishing umbrella comprises ALA Editions, TechSource, the new Huron Street Press, ALA Digital Reference, Booklist Publications, American Libraries and ALA Graphics.
"It is important for the Association to invest in its future to develop new markets and products and, thus, to better serve libraries and ALA members," said James Neal, ALA's treasurer.
