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When public health measures in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that in-person instruction was suspended at post-secondary institutions including ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½, students found themselves in a bind. Face-to-face classes switched to online, but students had limited access to print copies of books prescribed for their courses.

Helping fill that gap were ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Press’s Open Access titles — more than 130 of them, which have been downloaded more than 1.5 million times since 2015. In the months during the lockdown, download totals doubled, and they have stayed at that heightened level ever since.

Open Access has proven an invaluable resource, but it comes at a cost. Revenue from sales of print and digital formats of these books is cut at least in half, but the costs of publishing remain the same.

Here's how Open Access at ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Press helps readers worldwide learn what they need to know — for free.

Across the West, the stories of the people who settled our land are fading. Books in The West series help keep alive our Alberta history and legacy. Books like Blackfoot Ways of Knowing locate the Indigenous worldview in the history of the West.

Through the Art in Profile series, the stories of Western Canadian artists and architects are told and their artworks reproduced in lush, colourful, award-winning books, showcasing our artists to the wider audience they deserve.

Through BSPS Open, ²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½ Press has partnered with the prestigious British Society for the Philosophy of Science to create a leading-edge series of books in the Philosophy of Science — the field that helps scientists formulate the basic theories that underpin their scientific disciplines.

Sustainability and the environment go hand in hand. What you learn from books in the Canadian History and Environment series about our environmental history helps inform sustainable decisions we face today. Books in the Small Cities Sustainability Studies in Community and Cultural Engagement address topics in sustainable development in smaller cities, where most people live.

World events rock the headlines and the TV news. How does a concerned Canadian citizen locate a Canadian perspective on these events?

Beyond Boundaries analyzes Canadian security and strategic issues, both historical and contemporary. Energy Histories, Cultures and Politics examines the intersection of energy and society. Global Indigenous Issues explores topics which impact Indigenous peoples worldwide.

The Latin American & Caribbean Studies series redefines our understanding of historical and current issues in the Americas of the southern hemisphere. In the Africa: Missing Voices series, the work of African scholars finds its way into the international scholarly conversation. The Arts in Action series illuminates the fundamental significance of the arts, humanities, and social sciences to public well-being and contemporary society.

And for readers who just want to curl up with a good novel or book of poetry, Brave & Brilliant books entertain and engage readers with fresh and energetic approaches to storytelling, bold and lively, each with its own strong and unique voice.