Big Ten Open Books Adds Three 100-Book Collections
Ten Big Ten-affiliated university presses are making previously print-only scholarly works free to read online.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Distance Learning
The Big Ten Academic Alliance's Center for Library Programs has expanded Big Ten Open Books with three new collections of 100 books each. Ten Big Ten-affiliated university presses are making works that were previously published only in print available online and open access.
Why it matters
Open access lets readers and researchers worldwide read and reuse scholarly work at no cost, removing a barrier that print-only publication creates. The expansion adds scholarship across African, Asian, and Hispanic American studies, health disparities and disability culture, and human environmental impact.
The three new collections each contain 100 books and are hosted on the Fulcrum platform by the University of Michigan Library. Distribution partners include Project MUSE, JSTOR, OAPEN, and The Palace Project from Lyrasis, while the source does not report reader or download figures.
The players
Big Ten Academic Alliance
A consortium of major public research universities in the United States that coordinates shared academic and library programs across its member institutions.
University of Michigan Library
The library system of the University of Michigan, which hosts the Fulcrum platform that carries the Big Ten Open Books collections.
The details
Each title underwent a rigorous selection and quality certification process before being made available free to read and reuse. The collections are published on a rolling basis as titles are sponsored, using open infrastructure and open distribution models.
Timeline
November 3, 2026: Expansion of Big Ten Open Books announced.
Culture Shift
The expansion extends the open-access book model already used by Project MUSE, JSTOR, and OAPEN to distribute scholarly work. It reflects a broader move among university presses to make monographs free to read and reuse rather than limiting them to print sales.
Readers can access the three new collections online at no cost, with the books free to read and reuse. Students and researchers who previously needed print copies or institutional purchases can now reach these titles directly through the hosting platforms.
The takeaway
Open access scholarly books remove the cost barrier to academic research, so readers outside the Big Ten network can use this material as well. Checking the hosting platforms regularly will show new titles as the collections grow.
Further reading
Explore more on Distance Learning for related ways students and readers access academic material online.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Library Journal infoDOCKET.
