October 20–26, is International Open Access Week, a global event organized by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) in partnership with the Open Access Week Advisory Committee. Each year, libraries, universities, and researchers around the world come together to celebrate the movement to make scholarly and creative work freely available for anyone to read, learn from, and build upon.

Why does it matter?
Because research and knowledge should be accessible to everyone. Open access helps students, teachers, small businesses, journalists, and lifelong learners everywhere explore high-quality information.

Here are a few ways you can explore open access resources right now:

• ScholarWorks @UA – Our institutional repository, full of open research, theses, and creative work from local scholars throughout the University of Alaska system.
• Creative Commons – Learn how creators share their work openly while keeping some rights reserved.
• Project Gutenberg – Over 70,000 free eBooks, from Jane Austen to Frederick Douglass, all in the public domain.
• Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) –  Thousands of peer-reviewed books and articles freely available to read and cite.

Faculty interested in incorporating Open Educational Resources (OER) into their courses can explore our OER Guide. This guide provides practical information on finding, evaluating, and using OER, including discipline-specific collections and tools for creating or adapting open materials. It is a helpful starting point for anyone looking to reduce textbook costs and increase access to learning.

Open Access empowers everyone to learn, create, and share without barriers. It is about connection, collaboration, and making sure that knowledge – whether it is groundbreaking research or a beautifully scanned old book – is available to all!

Banned Books Week is an annual event that runs from October 5–11. This year’s theme, “Censorship Is So 1984,” highlights the increasing challenges and bans faced by books across the U.S. The event serves as a reminder of the ongoing need to actively protect our freedom to read and access diverse perspectives.

What is a Challenge vs. a Ban?

According to the American Library Association (ALA):

• A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict access to a book or resource.
• A ban occurs when this attempt is successful – the book is removed from shelves, restricted, or made unavailable.

The Numbers Behind Banned Books Week

In 2024, the ALA recorded 821 censorship attempts targeting 2,452 unique titles, one of the highest numbers on record. Most bans took place in school and public libraries, with books relating to race, gender identity, and sexuality being frequent targets.

Since 1990, the ALA has tracked the censorship of books across the country. The statistics have been trending higher for decades, and they remind us of the critical importance of protecting access to all ideas!

More information and data can be found here.

Let Freedom Read Day (October 11)

Here are some ways you can participate in Banned Books Week and show your support for the freedom to read:

1. Check out a banned or challenged book – whether it’s Orwell’s 1984 or one of the top 10 most challenged books of the year, it’s a great way to engage with the issue.
2. Start a conversation. Discuss with friends, in class, or on social media why certain books have been challenged and why access to them matters.
3. Support the right to read. Learn more about how censorship happens and how you can actively respond. Your voice matters in defending intellectual freedom.
   1. Don’t know how to get started? Visit bannedbooksweek.org for different action steps you can take!

Why It Matters

Books give us the chance to see the world from different perspectives and to explore ideas that might challenge our thinking. When books are banned, we limit the opportunity for understanding, empathy, and growth. Banned Books Week is an important reminder to stand up for free expression!