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The Secretary alluded to the following reports which had been distributed for the Regents' information in advance of the meeting.

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[[underlined]] The Popular Book Publishing Program [[/underlined]]

Established in 1976 as a Publishing Task Force to explore popular book publishing from the Institution, Smithsonian Exposition Books published its first title, [[underlined]] The Smithsonian Experience, [[/underlined]] in Autumn 1977. It was thought preferable to create a different entity from the Smithsonian Press (which is essentially a university press) to explore popular book publishing opportunities. Since then five more books have been published: [[underlined]] The Magnificent Foragers, The Smithsonian Book of Invention, A Zoo For All Seasons, The American Land, [[/underlined]] and [[underlined]] Every Four Years. [[/underlined] These books have been well received by the Associates, the primary market up to this time.

Last winter the Secretary felt it timely to appoint a panel of publishing executives chaired by André Schiffrin to evaluate popular book publishing at the Smithsonian Institution. The panel met during the spring and made a number of recommendations discussed later in this report. In May the Director of SE submitted his resignation, and Glen B. Ruh, the Institution's Publications Coordinator, was appointed Acting Director.

Bearing in mind the Schiffrin recommendations, Smithsonian Exposition Books has three immediate goals intended to strengthen its contribution to the Institution's trust-funded auxiliary activity program and to improve its internal operations. The first is to assure editorial project that reflect the Institution's own programs, collections, and concerns. The second goal is to refine its business management system for greater effectiveness in day-to-day operations as well as for greater compatibility with both the Institution's accounting system and accepted commercial publishing industry practices. The third goal is to broaden the market base and to expand