The University Press of Kentucky has a dual mission—the publication of academic books of high scholarly merit in a variety of fields and the publication of significant books about the history and culture of Kentucky, the Ohio Valley region, the Upper South, and Appalachia. The Press is the statewide nonprofit scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, operating under the University of Kentucky Libraries and serving all Kentucky state-sponsored institutions of higher learning as well as five private colleges and Kentucky's two major historical societies.